116 ALMOND TUMBLEES. [CHAP. iv. 



that however beautiful near at hand, they can only look 

 dirt-coloured when seen from any distance. " I have 

 had," boasts the anonymous author of that shamefully, 

 because un thankfully, plagiarised little volume, " I have 

 had some so remarkably beautiful in feather, that their 

 flight, tail, back, and rump, have resembled a bed of the 

 best and finest broken tulips that can be imagined, or a 

 piece of the best and most high-polished tortoise-shell ; 

 for the more they are variegated, particularly in the 

 flight and tail (provided the ground be yellow) the more 

 they are esteemed." " I have had some in my collec- 

 tion that have had few feathers in them, but what have 

 contained the three colours that constitute the almond 

 or ermine, viz., black, yellow, and white, variously and 

 richly interspersed." " In short, their beauty far sur- 

 passes all description, and nothing but the eye can 

 convey a just idea of them." But all these intricate 

 markings are lost to the eye, unless the Pigeon is 

 kept almost as a cage-bird. 



For those who will have the perfect tri-colour Al- 

 mond Tumbler, it is better, in purchasing young 

 ones, not to form a judgment upon the birds them- 

 selves, but, if it can be managed, to get a sight of their 

 parents. The bill shrinks, that is, hardens, for some 

 weeks after the old ones have ceased to feed them ; 

 and the gay colouring has only very partially appeared 

 in early youth. At the first moult, many of the diverse 

 markings break out for the first time, and Tumblers in 

 general do not attain their complete beauty till they are 

 at least two or three years old. Our experience is con- 

 firmed by the Treatise. " It requires a very nice 

 judgment to form any kind of true knowledge of them ; 

 and amongst the whole circle of my acquaintance, there 



