Chap. VI. MANNER OF FORMATION OF RACES. 227 



ought to be known." " It is possible there may be a few 

 fanciers that have a good general knowledge of the several 

 lancy pigeons, but there are many who labour under the 

 delusion of supposing they know what they do not." Speaking 

 exclusively of one sub-variety of one race, namely, the short- 

 faced almond tumbler, and after saying that some fancier.s 

 sacrifice every property to obtain a good head and beak, and 

 that other fanciers sacrifice everything for plumage, he 

 remarks : " Some young fanciers who are over covetous go in 

 for all the five j)roperties at once, and they have their reward 

 by getting nothing." In India, as I hear from Mr. Blyth, 

 pigeons are likewise selected and matched with the greatest 

 care. We must not judge of the slight divergences from 

 existing varieties which would have been valued in ancient 

 days, by those which are now valued after the formation of so 

 many races, each with its own standard of perfection, kept 

 uniform by our numerous Exhibitions. The ambition of the 

 most energetic fancier may be fully satisfied by the difficult}- 

 of excelling other fanciers in the breeds already established, 

 without trying to form a new one. 



A difficulty with respect to the power of selection will 

 perhaps already have occurred to the reader, namely, what 

 could have led fanciers first to attempt to make such singular 

 breeds as Pouters, Fantails, Carriers, &c. ? But it is this very 

 difficulty which the principle of unconscious selection re- 

 moves. Undoubtedly no fancier ever did intentionally make 

 such an attempt. All that we need suppose is that a 

 variation occurred sufficiently marked to catch the dis- 

 criminating eye of some ancient fancier, and then unconscious 

 selection carried on for many generations, that is, the wish 

 of succeeding fanciers to excel their rivals, would do the 

 rest. In the case of the Fantail we may suppose that the 

 first progenitor of the breed had a tail only slightly erected, 

 as may now be seen in certain Runts,*^ with some increase in 

 the number of the tail-feathers, as now occasionally occurs 

 with Nuns. In the case of the Pouter we may suppose that 



*' See Neumeister's figure of the Florence Runt, tab. 13, in ' Das Ganze 

 der Taubenzucht.' 



Q 2 



