290 FANCY PIGEONS. 



sary between it and the eye wattle to set off both, and, 

 consequently, there is only room for a really round eye 

 wattle of a certain diameter. An eye wattle perfectly circu- 

 lar, and more than an inch in diameter, must encroach on 

 the beak wattle, and decrease the distance. 



COLOUR. The Carrier ought to be self-coloured, and is 

 found black, dun, blue, silver, chequered, and white. Moore 

 says: "Its Feather is chiefly black or dun, tho' there are 

 likewise blues, whites, and pieds of each Feather, but the 

 black and dun answer best the foregoing Properties; yet the 

 blues, and blue pieds are generally esteem'd for their Scarcity, 

 tho' they will not usually come up to the Properties of the 

 foregoing Feathers." This statement remains generally true 

 after a lapse of a century and a half. The black ought to 

 be deep and glossy, showing no dulness on the wing coverts, 

 or with wing bars of a darker colour, as is often the case. 

 A white beak, or the same with a black tip to the upper 

 mandible, is admired, as often accompanying lustrous colour; 

 but though a white or flesh-coloured beak in a black Carrier 

 is admired, it is not a sine qua non. Strictly speaking, a 

 black pigeon ought to have the beak and toenails black, just 

 as a white pigeon must have them white. A white Pouter 

 without a coloured feather on it would lose all chance in 

 competition if dark beaked; a white beak in a black Pouter 

 would be a serious fault; and a black-headed Nun with a 

 white beak would have no chance in competition whatever, 

 however good otherwise. How, then, does it come that black 

 pigeons, such as Carriers and Barbs, are allowed to have 

 white beaks, and are admired with such? The reason is, 

 that in breeding the different self colours together in Barbs, 

 and the black and light-beaked dun in Carriers, the flesh- 

 coloured beak often remains in the best coloured blacks, so 

 that it has come to be considered by many as correct. 



Regarding the colour of the wattles in the Carrier, Moore 

 says: "This Flesh is in some Carriers more inclinable to a 



