PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS. 11 



considered ; but I shall here remark that the latter kind can 

 pretend to no advantage over the former in pigeon shooting, 

 while it is still doubtful whether it quite comes up to it in 

 strength of shooting. Most professed pigeon-shots, there- 

 fore, use the muzzle-loader; but certainly I have seen very 

 good work done with the new kind of gun. 



The kind of pigeon which is considered the best is the 

 " blue rock," a fast and very hardy bird, which appears to be 

 the nearest approach to the wild rock pigeon or dove, and is 

 or should be marked and coloured like that bird. Many 

 other varieties of the common domestic pigeon are, however, 

 very generally used in pigeon matches ; but if the conditions 

 specify " blue rocks only to be used," the birds should answer 

 to the following description : Beak reddish brown ; iris pale 

 orange, approaching to yellow; head and neck bluish grey, 

 the sides of the latter with green and purple iridescent re- 

 flections; shoulders, upper part of the back, and wing- 

 coverts grey, the greater coverts having a black bar near the 

 end; primary and secondary quill feathers bluish grey; tail 

 feathers twelve, both ends being light grey, with a lead-grey 

 middle; throat purplish green; all the under parts pearl 

 grey ; legs and toes reddish brown ; claws brown. If the 

 pigeons are not of a good sort, or are obtained from inn-yards 

 or other places where they become tame, they do not fly the 

 moment the trap is pulled, nor do they go off at a fast pace. 

 Hence the person who supplies them ought to be particular 

 in obtaining them from retired farm-houses, and it is no 

 uncommon thing for Barber (the chief London purveyor) to 

 send 200 miles for such birds before a great match. The 

 usual price in London is 14s. to 15*. a dozen, but in the 

 country they may often be obtained at 65. One of the most 

 common tricks played off upon the match-shooter is by means 

 of this difference in the birds, where the person who pulls the 

 string is aware of the quality of each. Thus, supposing he 

 sees that certain traps contain strong birds, and others the 

 reverse, he pulls the latter for the shooter that he wishes to 

 favour, and reserves the former for his opponent. Hence it 

 should always be a condition that each shooter should pull 

 for his opponent either by himself or a deputy, and this plan 

 would tend to prevent occasional trickery, and still more 



