Chap. VI. HISTORY OF THE PRINCIPAL RACES. 219 



said to be very short. Hence either the Jacobin, or the other kinds 

 with which it was then compared, must since that time have been 

 considerably modified ; for Moore's description (and it must be 

 remembered that he was a first-rate judge) is clearly not applicable, 

 as far as size of body and length of bcaii are concerned, to our prest nt 

 Jacobins. In 1795, juging from Bechstein, the breed had assumed 

 its present character. 



Turhits. — It has generally been supposed by the older writers on 

 pigeons, that the Tui'bit is the Cortbeck of Aldrovandi ; but if this 

 be the case, it is an extraordinary fact that the characteristic frill 

 should not have been noticed. The beak, moreover, of the Cortlieck 

 is described as closely resembling that of the Jacobin, which shows 

 a change in the one or the other race. The Turbit, with its charac- 

 teristic frill, and bearing its present name, is described by Willughby 

 in 1677; and the bill is said to be like that of the bullfinch, — a good 

 comi^arison, but now more strictly applicable to the beak of the 

 Barb. The sub-breed called the Owl was well known in Moore's 

 time, in 1735, 



Tamhler s—Gommon Tumblers, as well as Ground Tumblers, perfect 

 as far as tumbling is concerned, existed in India before the year 

 1600 ; and at this period diversified modes of flight, such as flying 

 at night, the ascent to a great height, and manner of descent, seem 

 to have been much attended to in India, as at the present time. 

 Belon *" in 1555 saw in Paphlagonia what he describes as " a very 

 new thing, viz. pigeons which flew so high in the air that they were 

 lost to view, but returned to their pigeon-house without separating." 

 This manner of flight is characteristic of our present Tumblers, but 

 it is clear that Belon would have mentioned the act of tumbling if 

 the pigeons described by him had tumbled. Tumblers were not 

 known in Europe in 1600, as they are not mentioned by Aldrovandi, 

 who discusses the flight of pigeons. They are briefly alluded to by 

 Willughby, in 1687, as small pigeons " wliich show hke footballs in 

 the air." The short-faced race did not exist at this period, as 

 Willughby could not have overlooked birds so remarkable for their 

 small size and short beaks. We can even trace some of the steps 

 by which this race has been produced. Moore in 1735 enumerates 

 correctly the chief points of excellence, but does not give any de- 

 scription of the several sub-breeds ; and from this fact Mr. Eaton 

 infers" that the Short-faced Tumbler had not then come to full 

 perfection. Moore even speaks of the Jacobin as being the smallest 

 pigeon. Thirty years afterwards, in 1765, in the Treatise dedicated 

 to Mayor, short-faced Almond Tumblers are fully described, but the 

 author, an excellent fancier, expressly states in his Preface (p. xiv.) 

 that, " from great care and expense in breeding them, they have 

 arrived to so great perfection and are so different from what they 

 were 20 or 30 years past, that an old fancier would have condemned 



*" ' L'Histoire de la Nature des *^ ' Treatise on Pigeons,' 1852, p. 



Oiseaux,' p. 31-i. 64. 



