326 FANCY PIGEONS. 



strawberry colour, with a few black spots, or ink marks, 

 interspersed. 



THE RIGA TUMBLER. In my youthful days, and probably 

 still, though I never now watch the arrival of Baltic traders, 

 as I then did, vessels from Russia often brought to Dundee 

 what we used to call Riga Tumblers. They were self-coloured 

 blacks, reds, and yellows, of large size, with heavily feathered 

 legs and feet (the quills on the latter often 4in. in length), 

 and a large shell crest. They were very similar in shape 

 and size to the Trumpeter as we then had it, except as to 

 the tuft of feathers over the beak. They were very good 

 flyers and tumblers. 



GERMAN TUMBLERS. Numerous varieties of the Tumbler 

 are spread over Germany and Austria, many of which are, 

 no doubt, bred chiefly for their marking. They vary greatly 

 in type, some being long and flat headed, while others are 

 short and thick beaked, with a high forehead. The principal 

 varieties, some of them now well-known in this country, are 

 the following : 



The White-Tailed Tumbler. These birds, with clean legs 

 and pearl eyes, are similar in size and style to our common 

 Tumblers. Some have a shell crest. They are of various 

 ground colours, with a pure white tail and tail coverts. There 

 is another pure breed, similar in all respects to these, except 

 that their primary flight feathers also are white. 



The Coloured- Tailed Tumbler. Birds of this variety are all 

 white, with coloured tails. They have clear pearl eyes, and 

 some have shell crests. 



The Konigsberg Moorhead. These pigeons have large shell 

 crests, pearl eyes, coloured tails, and heavily feathered legs and 

 feet, and are marked on the head like a Nun. I believe they 

 are either black or blue marked. 



The Brunswick Beard is now well-known in this country. 

 It is rather long in face, and flat in head, with pearl eyes 

 and clean legs, though I believe a variety with feathered 



