244 BIRDS 



neck, which should not be tinged with greenish. Yellows 

 are prone to the same weaknesses as reds — pale flights and 

 tail, and plumy or grizzly rump and underparts. The shade 

 most desired is rich and deep, in contrast to the pale, flat 

 cast which is often seen. Yellows are benefited by the red 

 cross. Birds of this color may generally be known from the 

 first by the yellow beak-ring and very scanty down. 



Reds, yellows and duns, particularly the two latter, if 

 intended for show purposes, must be protected from sun and 

 rain, which have a very detrimental effect on the plumage. 



Of the barred varieties there are four recognized types — 

 blue, silver, mealy and cream. As in the selfs, we find that 

 two of these colors are dilute forms of the others, silver 

 bearing that relation to blue and cream to mealy. As in the 

 case of yellow and dun, silver and cream are sex-limited 

 recessives, which accounts for the scarcity of males in these 

 colors. 



Blue has already been described for the Rock Dove, and 

 nothing further is needed, except to say that the wing bars 

 must be round, broad and distinct. White rump and thighs, 

 as seen in the wild bird, are replaced by blue, as far as pos- 

 sible. The lighter shades of blue, if not inclined to be griz- 

 zled, are very attractive, as they form a sharper contrast with 

 the bars. 



Silver is an even, pale shade, closely bordering on white. 

 The wing and tail bars should be black, but this is seldom 

 attained, most birds being dun or kitey. The tips of the 

 flights approach dun, while the tail, neck and breast are of a 

 dark ashy cast. The ground color should not be creamy, 

 and the breast should be free from yellow. 



In the mealy the ground color is also close to white, but 

 has a somewhat harder appearance than silver, diflicult to 

 describe. It is easily distinguished, however, by the reddish 

 wing bars, neck and breast. There is much confusion over 



