CHAP, iv.] ALMOND TUMBLERS DEFORMITIES. 117 



are but very few that may be said to understand tbem : 

 every time they moult their feathers, they increase in 

 beauty for some years ; and when in decline of life, they 

 gradually decrease, till they become sometimes a mot- 

 tled, splashed, or whole colour." We wish it had been 

 recorded at what epoch of a Tumbler's life the sun of its 

 tricolorism begins to set. 



But what has caused the great wonderment about Al- 

 mond Tumblers, is their form ; the whole thing, how- 

 ever, is very simple. The common Tumbler, au naturel, 

 has a compact little body, with a round head, a short 

 beak, and neat little feet. But this did not content the 

 fanciers. By pairing together birds, in which these 

 qualities were the most exaggerated, they got bodies 

 still more compact, heads yet rounder, beaks shorter, 

 and feet neater. It was the breeder's art carried to the 

 uttermost, but no sample whatever of the creative power 

 of man (I can hardly bring the pen to write the words!) 

 according to Gallic phrase. As to the beaks, do what 

 the fancier would, they still were not small enough, and 

 then the penknife was brought into use to pare them 

 down below the standard. The young of the birds so 

 operated on had not, perhaps, smaller beaks than those 

 originally possessed by their parents, any more than a 

 wooden-legged man is necessarily the father of a wooden- 

 legged family ; but still they sold, and that was enough. 

 And by coupling the most monstrous individuals of a 

 race, a family of monsters are kept in existence for a 

 time. It is possible that a despot might be able to in- 

 crease the number of club-footed men and women in his 

 dominions, just as William of Prussia tried hard to suit 

 all his extra-tall guardsmen with wives of equally alpine 

 altitude ; but in the long run club feet might follow the 



