250 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 28, 1871. 



quality witli excellent caps and apangles. Mr. Kitcliie's Silver hen 

 was one of those birds the like of which is not seen every day. She 

 might have been better capped, and she would he none the worse if 

 the larger spangles were more defined ; bat taking her all-in-all she is 

 a bird to make one's month water. The mottle on the neck behind the 

 cap is snch as is not seen in one bird in a hnndred. Smith & Preen 

 vrere also very highly commended in the Silver class ; and on again 

 referring to my notes, I cannot say positively whether it was their 

 bird or Mr. Ritchie's pen which was rather cloudy. If I have been 

 putting the saddle on the wrong horse I mnst be excused. 



In Greens, Mr. Lawson, Saltburn, won by condition. The second 

 bird (J. Stevens), was backward. 



The "Any other variety " was a splendid class. Mr. Bulmer's first 

 was a high-class Variegated Yellow Belgian. Messrs. Bnrniston were 

 second with a good Evenly-marked Yellow Y'orkshire ; Moore and 

 Wynn third with a Variegated- crested Cinnamon ; and Mr. Hawman 

 estra third with an Evenly-marked Cross-bred. 



Variegated Mules were few, and with the exception of the first 

 Jonque (Stevens), poor. Dark Males were backward. The district 

 entries showed a marked improvement on last year. — W. A. Blakston. 



NATIONAL PERISTERONIC SOCIETY. 



The first Show for the season of this well-known Society took 

 place on the 19th inst., at the Freemasons' Hall. It consisted entirely 

 of young birds bred this season, and, if we mistake not, we saw several 

 future prizewinners. Here they do not compete for prizes, but after 

 being well scanned by the members from 8 to 11 p.m., return to the 

 same or another cote, none the worse in beauty of plumage and 

 condition. For these the birds of the members of this Society are 

 justly celebrated. Amongst the gems we noticed some grand i51ack 

 and Dun Carriers from Messrs. Hedley and Ord ; good pens of Blues 

 and Silver Carriers from Mr. B. Ford, of Weymouth ; a pen of very 

 good Yellow Dragoons and Jacobins from Mr. Betty ; a pen of the 

 best Barbs we have seen for some time ; also various other breeds 

 from different members. 



THE SATINETTE. 



We now turn our attention to this most beautiful variety of 

 Pigeon, although in so doing we depart somewhat from our 

 proposed course ; but having received numerous inquiries for a 

 description of the breed, we deem it advisable to give the in- 

 formition we have and publicity to our opinions. 



Satinette is the name by which the breed is distinguished in 

 England, that name being given to them on their first appear- 

 ance at our public exhibitions, and by that name they will be 

 best known, therefore we adopt the name, which seems to us 

 not an inappropriate one ; but they are not known by that 

 name in the East, whence they came. The Satinette is of 

 foreign origin, and has not only been cultivated and perfected 

 abroad, but, being so highly prized and so much admired, has 

 been kept almost exclusively by those fanciers whose diligence, 

 care, and skill have been the means of raising such charming 

 little pets ; for their own special amusement it may have been, 

 but it will, doubtless, result in eliciting the high praise of all 

 true .lovers of the beautiful. To the Mahommedan Pigeon- 

 keepers the credit of producing this variety is due. They seem 

 to have pursued their study of Pigeons at least with a refined 

 taste for the beautiful, such as it would be well for us to en- 

 deavour to emulate. The Satinette may be said now to be a 

 native of Smyrna, a seaport town of Natolia, in Asiatic 

 Turkey, but we believe the breed was originally propagated 

 further east by an aged follower of Mahomet, who, alone and 

 unaided, with untiring zeal in his efforts to establish these 

 beautiful spangled Pigeons, prosecuted his study of the " sacred 

 Dove " until perfect specimens of the kind were abundant in 

 his flock, some of which were, as an especial favour, presented 

 (about twenty years ago) to our excellent member and fellow- 

 fancier, H. P. Caridia, Esq. They were taken by him to 

 Smyrna, where he raised, distributed, and left many of the 

 breed, bringing with him to England (sixteen years ago) the 

 first (about twelve pairs) of the kind that were introduced into 

 this country. 



Of the exploits of this breed of Pigeons as prizetakers 

 many fanciers are aware, for to exhibit them was to win. In- 

 deed, no judge with a proper appreciation of either form or 

 feather could pass them by without awarding the badge of 

 merit, for, as will be seen by the accompanying illustration, 

 the Satinette is a paragon of beauty. 



This exquisite little Pigeon will compare favourably with any 

 known breed in form and feather, and what the Sebright 

 Bantam is among poultry such is the Satinette among Pigeons. 

 .The Satinette is a great acquisition to our English stock, and 

 appears to have been appreciated by English fanciers. Large 



sums of money have been expended in their purchase, and the 

 highest premiums have been awarded to them at our exhibitions, 

 though the competition in the " Any variety " class is generally 

 strong. We know of one pair that have been competitors at 

 most of our public shows, and have won upwards of £60 in 

 prizes. The scarcity of these birds, their delicacy of colour 

 and constitution, and high value, are the primary causes oJ 

 their not appearing more frequently at our exhibitions. By 

 the importations that have been received recently by us the 

 breed may become more generally known ere long. 



The points of the Satinette are as follows : — The head is 

 round ; the beak short, strong, and flesh-coloured ; the eye is 

 large and dark ; the neck is gently tapered, and well arched ; 

 the breast prominent, and a large frill must be well defined 

 from the neck to the breast ; the body small and compact ; the 

 legs and feet well feathered, and entirely covered to the nails ; 

 the carriage of the bird must be erect, and in most points ol 

 form bearing resemblance to the Owl. The head, neck, breast, 

 belly, thighs, and lower part of back pure white ; on the sides 

 of wings, primary coverts, and saddle of back is a ground tint 

 of a light and delicate pinkish brown, deepening in tone to- 

 wards the edges of each feather, and terminating in a fine 

 black fringe upon all the smaller feathers on the sides and 

 shoulders of wing ; the coverts, however, are not fringed with 

 black at the edges, but they, in company with all the feathers 

 upon which the brownish colour is visible, are distinctively 

 marked with black spear points. Thus there is a variety of 

 graduated shades of rich brown upon every coloured feather, 

 bordered by a fringe of black, such as may be seen in the Ham- 

 burgh fowls. The tail of the bird is of a slatey blue colour, 

 with a broad band of black at its extremity ; in the centre oii 

 this band, and upon each of the twelve feathers of which the 

 tail is comprised, should be a distinct and well-defined whita 

 spot (^ee accompanying sketch of feather, drawn half real size). 



This peculiar feather is dissimilar to any other variety, and 

 forms one of the chief characteristics of the breed. Fanciers 

 can easily imagine the extremely beautiful and novel appear- 

 ance of a flight of these birds. Unfortunately, we Birmingham 

 fanciers may possess the birds in all their native beauty, yet 

 must admire them within their loft or through the wires of the 

 aviary within which they are imprisoned, for were we to give 

 them liberty the sight would assuredly astonish the "flying 

 fraternity" of our Pigeon-keeping town, and might lead either 

 to the Pigeons or the flying fraternity " going astray." 



The Satinette is very active on the wing, and in its native 

 clime is said to fly long and well, and in compact bodies ; but, 

 as we have said, it has not been our lot to see many on the 

 wing, Etill we have seen them at large, a few of which have 

 entire liberty always with us, and undoubtedly thrive better for 

 it. Satinettes are a delicate variety; they are good breeders, 

 but bad feeders. The use of foster-parents of stronger con- 

 stitution for the rearing of their young is advantageous, as 

 they are too apt to desert their young, or only half feed them. 

 Some will rear and raise their young well, but, as a rule, they 

 are not to be trusted. 



Satinettes are very changeable in their plumage. Whea 

 young, and before their first moult, they are of a sort of ma- 

 hogany colour pencilled with black, and certainly not very 

 attractive at that period of their existence, but on the appear- 

 ance of the first new feathers we acquire an idea of what we 

 may expect when the entire body has suffered a similar change ; 

 the contrast in the colours becomes much stronger and the 

 markings more distinct, and what might be supposed to be an 

 inferior bird before the moult often developes into a grand 

 specimen. 



It may here be observed that Satinettes, like all other Pigeons, 

 do not breed all perfect and true ; some are foul-feathered, 

 some are clean-legged, some have poor frills, others have flat 

 heads, but in all of them there is clearly traceable the one dis- 

 tinct and highly meritorious breed of Pigeon. 



There is of the Satinette family a very beautiful sub-variety 

 which they occasionally breed, and by some fanciers these off- 

 shoots may be preferred to the Satinettes themselves; they sre 

 called Brunettes. They have a light pinkish brown plnmage, 



