233 POUTING PIGEONS. 



were differently formed, one making up in neck what he lost 

 in feather. I think this may be some slight proof of the 

 Carrier cross, the greater length of neck enabling the bird to 

 stand higher, and giving room for greater development of 

 crop. Short-necked birds, whose length depends on nights 

 and tail, have little style, and can never have fine carriage. 

 Mere length from beak to tail should never have been made 

 a property in the breed. Pouters may be too long as well 

 as too short. What they ought to be depends entirely on the 

 set and apparent length of their limbs. There are, at present, 

 three too long for every one too short. A Pouter which has 

 7in. limbs, of the proper shape, and rightly placed, and which 

 has a good long neck, can afford to measure 19in. from point 

 of beak to tip of tail, and no more. A bird measuring 

 20in., however long in neck, requires limbs 7^in. long, and 

 of the very best description, to enable him to stand properly. 

 The next excellence in shape of a Pouter, supposing him to 

 be standing in position in a show-pen, or on the ground, is 

 to be hollow-backed, the opposite of which being hog-backed 

 is a most serious defect. His wings must be carried close to 

 his body, and well up, so as to show his breast and belly in 

 profile. Drooping wings, which conceal this outline, are very 

 faulty, and generally hereditary. His flights must always be 

 carried over his tail, and reach nearly to the end of it; they 

 ought to be broad, and not narrow. The tail should be carried 

 very near the ground, but not touching it; it ought never to 

 be carried high, which is a great, though common, fault. 

 Many of the best Pouters I have seen were split-tailed, having 

 their tails in two equal divisions, this being more noticeable when 

 the birds were in the hand than when at liberty. I have heard 

 old fanciers say that the split- tail is a mark of high breeding, 

 and also that long hairs on the breast of a Pouter were proof 

 of good blood. What is known as a fish-tail, or one split in 

 two, and diverging at the points, is, however, very undesirable. 

 Pouters often have extra tail feathers, as many as fifteen 



