COLOUR OF ALMOND TUMBLERS. 113 



name of Almond is applied. We believe red blood is also inter- 

 woven in the strain ; or else the red of pigeons must be regarded 

 as only a deeper shade of the colour known as yellow. 



The colour alone distinguishing the Almond class of these 

 Tumblers from others, we must first describe this. The ground 

 colour has been compared by different writers successively to 

 the outside of the kernel, and inside of the shell, and the out- 

 side of the shell of the ordinary Jordan almond ; and no one 

 now knows what precise shade was perferred by the old breeders. 

 We believe, however, that the middle comparison best expresses 

 it, and that the colour desired was a rich, soft, slightly brownish 

 yellow. We are sorry to say that this colour has now all but 

 disappeared, and that not a few breeders seem even to prefer a 

 kind of mahogany brown that almost deserves to be called 

 red. This colour is easier to breed, but we must give our 

 opinion that with it has departed most of the beauty the true 

 Almond feather possessed ; and it is significant that with the 

 change has come an almost total disappearance of " feather " 

 fanciers, and an abandonment of feather properties for " head 

 and beak." No wonder : there is nothing in such feather worth 

 breeding for, and nothing for a mere spectator to admire when 

 it is got. We never saw but two really yellow birds, but it 

 was very different with them ; and we cannot but feel that if 

 more attention were paid to this point it would not only tend to 

 discourage the evils to be mentioned presently, but attract many 

 more breeders to this pigeon, of the same class as bred it in old 

 times, but who will never tolerate the modern practices. 



However this question of ground-colour be settled, the es- 

 sential point in a perfect standard " Almond " Tumbler is, that 

 the twelve quill feathers of the tail, and the ten large quills 

 or nights in each wing, should each show both ground-colour, 

 black, and white, in each feather so far, at least, as regards the 

 cocks. It is, however, not universal to find ten nights ; in-breed- 

 ing and small size causing the production of many birds with a 

 I 



