80 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



and becomes sooty, or bluish, or dull, it is necessary to re- 

 fresh it by a cross with a rich dun. It unfortunately 

 happens that the best duns for this purpose suffer most from 

 exposure to the sun, becoming mottled and pale ; but this 

 cannot be helped. It has long been the custom to match 

 black cocks with dun hens; and this has naturally resulted 

 by degrees in a scarcity, comparatively, of dun cocks and 

 black hens. For this very reason, it is well, whenever pos- 

 sible, to match the birds the other way ; when, if the progeny 

 is good, they can compete in the classes which show least 

 competition. Blues have to be matched occasionally to blacks 

 to keep up the head-properties, choosing for this purpose a 

 black as blue in shade as can be found. The best match 

 is to put a black hen to a blue cock. Blues may also be 

 matched to those light-coloured birds called silvers, when 

 such can be found good enough. One great difficulty in 

 breeding blues is to get the lower part of the back, tech- 

 nically called the " rump," of a dark shade, the natural blue 

 pigeon having that part of a very light colour. Various 

 crosses have been tried to overcome this difficulty, and Mr. 

 Fulton recommends, as one of the best, to match a light dun 

 hen with a blue cock, which may probably produce one or 

 two blue-chequers; when pairing such a bird back to the 

 blue will probably produce what is desired. Whites have 

 been, in our opinion, produced by matching pale blues to 

 white Dragoon hens as stout as can be got. The produce is 

 generally a splashed bird, and by choosing the most white, and 

 matching them according to opportunity to pale light-rumped 

 blues, silvers, or even the lightest-coloured duns, the colour is 

 obtained. We should ourselves be very much inclined to try a 

 cross with a white Scandaroon a breed which we are certain 

 is closely related to the Carrier, and which has already length 

 of face, though with an ugly downward curve. 



In breeding all colours of Carriers, there are several impor- 



