49 



add a very great beauty to this bird, especially considering the breadth of 

 its chest. (*) 



139. — Its feather is chiefly black or dun, though there are likewise blues, 

 whites, and pieds of each feather, but the black and dun answer best the 

 foregoing properties ; yet the blues, and blue pieds are generally esteemed 

 for their scarcity, though they will not usually come up to the properties 

 of the foregoing feathers, (f) 



is generally adopted by the Gentlemen of the Fancy who are appointed to the office of 

 judges at shows, in former years, and at the present time (1858) ; at the same time 

 good Cai-rier Fanciers do not allow one of the twelve properties in the head to escape 

 them. 



• 138. (Matoe, p. 83.) — '' The broader the chest the better, for which reason the 

 head should incline backward, which shows it more advantageously," 



139. (Eaton.) — As the black and dun answered best when Mr. Moore published his 

 work in 1735, so they do now after a lapse of 123 years ; at the same time, generally 

 speaking, blacks are the greatest favourites, even provided they are equal in their pro- 

 perties, owing the contrast of the black feather and the wattle being the greater. 'Tis 

 Baid a good horse cannot be a bad colour ; a good Carrier may. 



(Eaton.) — It does not necessarily follow, simply because Moore in his ar- 

 rangement of the Carriers' properties — beak, wattle, head, and eye, and Mayok, 

 who follows with the addition — length and thinness of neck and length of 

 body — if we added this last property of Mayor's to Moore's twelve, we 

 should make thirteen properties in the Carrier, and four, or five as laid down by 

 Mayor. Were I asked to arrange the properties of the Carrier, according to their best 

 properties, I should regard length and thinness of neck, length of body, great width of 

 chest, slenderness of girt, standing erect on its legs, &c., after all, as combining only 

 one property, shape or carriage, which I consider the grandest property in a pigeon, 

 with few exceptions, viz., — in the Powter length of leg or limb, the Barb the eye, &c. 

 At the same time shape and carriage is a grand property in every pigeon, I have heard 

 some Fanciers state there is a difference between shape and carriage. I never heard 

 any one define the difference ; I consider shape and carriage synonymous. Second pro- 

 perty, the head ; third property, the beak ; fourth property, the eye ; fifth property, the 

 wattle. The properties then would be as follows, viz. : — 



1st. — Length and Thinness of Neck, Length of Body, great Width of Chest, Slen- 

 derness of Girt, Standing erect on the Jjegs, &c. 



2nd.— The Head. 



3rd.— The Beak, 



4th.— The Eye. 



5th.— The Wattle. 

 Selecting Head as second property, which is its length, its narrowness, and its flat- 

 ness — having an exceedingly narrow, even head. Although so desirable, 'tis certain 

 you VTill not have a wide, bi^oad Beak, which is a fault. 'Tis possible you may have a 

 doep, thick box-beak, which is so desirable. Third property, the Beak, long, straight, 

 and tl^ck, I cannot help thinking that a bird having these three grand properties, the 

 other two are likely to follow, viz.. Eye and Wattle. 'Tis certain a bird possessing the 

 first three properties I have laid down came from superior birds, "A wag" may say 

 anything ; therefore it may be as well to put into his mouth a few words what to say — a 

 " Speary Dragon" or a " Skin-um." A good Carrier Fancier knows what such a bird 

 as I have been describing comes from, and what it is likely to breed. Fourth property, 

 the Eye, broad, round, thick, a rose-eye, &c. Fifth property. Wattle, broad, short and 

 tilting. To sum up the whole, as a sum of addition, I simply put it to you by rule of 

 subtraction, which property can you subtract from the five properties without greatly in- 

 juring the bird ? 1 tell you plainly, you require all the properties in an eminent degree 

 to constitute an extra bird or an A 1 Carrier, 



+ 139, (Mayor, p. 81,)— But, in my opimon, the above twelve properties would 

 D 



