34 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. Chap. I. 



and it has the hal)it of continually expanding slightly the up- 

 per part of tlie a?so2:)hagus. The Jacobin has the feathers so 

 much reversed along the back of the neck that the}' form a 

 hood ; and it has, proportionally to its size, much-elongated 

 wing and tail feathers. The trumpeter and laugher, as their 

 names express, utter a very different coo from the otlier breeds. 

 The fantail has thirty or even forty tail-feathers, instead of 

 twelve or fourteen — the normal number in all members of the 

 great pigeon family ; and these feathers are kept expanded, 

 and are carried so erect, that in good birds the head and tail 

 touch : the oil-gland is quite aborted. Several other less dis- 

 tinct breeds might be specified. 



In the skeletons of the several breeds, the development of 

 the bones of the face in length and breadth and curvature dif- 

 fers enormously. The shape, as Avell as the breadth and length 

 of the ramus of the lower jaw, varies in a highly-remarkable 

 manner. The caudal and sacral vertebra? vary in number ; as 

 does the number of the ribs, together with their relative breadth 

 and the presence of processes. The size and shape of the 

 apertures in the sternum are highly variable ; so is the degree 

 of divergence and relative size of the two arms of the furcula. 

 The proportional width of the gape of mouth, the proportional 

 length of the eyelids, of the orifice of the nostrils, of the tongue 

 (not always in strict correlation with the length of beak), the 

 size of the crop and of the upper part of the ccso})liagus ; the 

 development and abortion of the oil-gland ; the number of the 

 primary wing and caudal feathers ; the relative length of wing 

 and tail to each other and to the body ; the relative length of leg 

 and of the feet ; the number of scutcHa^ on the toes, the develop- 

 ment of skin between the toes, arc all points of structure -which 

 are variable. The period at which the perfect plumage is ac- 

 quired, varies, as does the state of the do^^^l with which the nest- 

 ling birds are clothed when hatched. The shape and size of the 

 eggs vary. The manner of flight, and in some breeds the voice 

 and disposition, differ remarkably. Lastly, in certain breeds, the 

 males and females have come to dilVer in a slight degree from 

 each other. 



Altogether, at least a score of pigeons might be chosen, 

 which, if shown to an ornithologist, and he were told that they 

 were wild birds, would certainly be ranked by him as well-de- 

 fined species. Moreover, I do not believe that any ornitliolo- 

 gist would place the English canicr, the short-faced tumbler, 

 the runt, tlic barb, pouter and fantail in the same genus; 



