176 



DOMESTIC PIGEONS 



Chap. V. 



Fig. 28.— Scapulae, of natural, 

 size. A. Rocli-pigeon. ti. 

 Short-faced Tumbler. 



Tho j^ehis differs very little in any breed. The anterior margin 

 of the ilium, however, is sometimes a little more equally rounded 



on both sides than 



in the rock- pigeon. 



The ischium is also 



frequently rather 



more elongated. The 



obturator-notch is 



sometimes, as in 



many Tumblers, less 



developed than in 



the rock-pigeon. The 



ridges on the ilium 



are very prominent 



in most Euuts. 

 In the bones of the 



extremities I could 



detect no difference, 



except in their pro- 

 portional lengths ; 



for instance, the 



metatarsus in a 

 Pouter was 1"65 inch, and in a Short-faced 

 Tumbler only '95 in length ; and this is a 

 greater difference than would naturally follow 

 from their differently-sized bodies ; but long 

 legs in the Pouter, and small feet in the 

 Tumbler, are selected points In some 

 Pouters the scapula is rather straighter, and 

 in some Tumblers it is straighter, with the 

 apex less elongated, than in the rock-pigeon : 

 in the woodcut, fig. 28, the scapulae of the 

 rock-pigeon (a), and of a short-faced Tumbler 

 (b), are given. The processes at the summit 

 of the coracoid, which receive the extremities 

 of the fui'culum, form a more perfect cavity in 

 some Tumblers than in the rock-pigeon : in 

 Pouters these processes are larger and dif- 

 ferently shaped, and the exterior angle of 

 the extremity of the coracoid, which is 

 articulated to the sternum, is squarer. 



The two arms of the furculum in Pouters 

 diverge less, proportionally to their length, 

 than in the rock-pigeon ; and the symphysis 

 is more solid and pointed. In Fantails the 

 degree of divergence of the two arms varies Fig 29 Purcuia of natural 



• ° 111 T n on 1 size. A. Short-faced Tum- 



m a remarkable manner. In fig. 29, b and bier. B aud c Fantaii. d. 



c represent the furcula of two Fantails ; and Pouter. 



it will be seen that the divergence in b is rather less even than in the 



