PIGEONS. 331 



THE HELMET. 



The helmet is larger than the nun ; its head, tail, and flight gene- 

 rally correspond in colour, being either of a yellow, blue, or black tint, 

 and the other parts of the body are usually white ; its head is orna- 

 mented with a delicate soft tuft of feathers, differing in colour from 

 those of the body, and bearing a slight resemblance to a hemlet, 

 whence its name. Helmets are very pretty birds, but of no great 

 value. 



THE MAGPIE 



Is a clean, handsome bird, resembling the magpie in colour, though it 

 is often red, yellow, or blue, but black and white are the most 

 valuable. 



THE LACE 



Is rather a scarce bird, about the size of a common runt, and much 

 resembles it in shape; the colour is always white, and the webs or 

 fibres are apparently quite unconnected with each other, seeming to 

 be disunited throughout, which peculiarity makes the bird look sin- 

 gular yet pretty. 



THE FINIKIN 



Differs very little in shape from the runt, is snake-headed, gravel- 

 eyed, and has a tuft of feathers growing on the back part of its 

 head, which filling down the neck, carries, in some measure, the 

 appearance of a horse's mane ; it has a clean leg and foot, and its 

 plumage is always blue or black pied. When cooing, its gestures 

 are very curious, as it rises over its hen, flaps its wings, turns round 

 three or four tunes, first one way and then another. 



THE TURNER 



Greatly resembles the finikin, but has no tuft on the back part of 

 the head. It differs in its evolutions, as it turns round only one way. 



THE DOVE-COTE. 



To possess a really good flight of 

 pigeons, a fancier ought to have 

 out- buildings and other conveniences 

 which might be made into nice 

 roomy dove-cotes. Bird-fanciers, 

 and persons who breed fancy pigeons, 

 not having these conveniences, gene- 

 rally convert the lofts between the 

 ceilings of the garrets and the tiled 

 roofs of their houses into pigeon- 

 lofts, and make an opening in the 

 tiling, so that they are enabled to 

 have a kind of platform outside on which they fix their traps or 

 aeries ; but such situations are often rather dangerous, for if an acci- 

 dent occurred it might prove fatal. The pigeon- fancier who is 

 limited to a small space, must therefore be content with two or three, 

 or at any rate a few, choice birds, and provide as capacious a cote as 



