106 



COLUMBA TREMULA LATICAUDA. 



The Broad-tailed Shaker. 



248. — This Pigeon has a beautiful, long, thin neck, which bends like 

 the neck of a swan, leaning towards the back ; it has a frequent tremu- 

 lous motion, or shaking in the neck, especially when salacious, which is 

 the reason why they are called Shakers. It has a full breast, a very short 

 back, and a tail consisting of a great number of feathers, seldom less than 

 four and twenty, which it spreads in a very elegant manner, like the tail 

 of a turkey cock, and throws it up so much that the head and tail fre- 

 quently meet. 



248. (Eaton.) — In all fancies and hobbies, I am certain there are out of these fan- 

 cies or hobbies one class more fitting for Ladies than another, and the Gentlemen Fan- 

 ciers ought to leave this class of toys entirely to the management of Ladies ; with 

 their judg-ment and superior taste, I should not be surprised, in a few years, to see 

 the white Fantails, with the beautiful lace feathers, the fibres or web of which appear 

 truly beautiful. I never saw but one pair; they were at the Crystal Palace "Winter 

 Show, 1858 ; I much admired them, as many others did, and considered how infinitely 

 superior, by comparsion,^they seemed to the others in feather. Under these circvim- 

 stances, the Portrait of the Pantail that will accompany this Work will be a laced Fan- 

 tail. I think it could be accomplished in a short time by a cross, by obtaining a first- 

 rate Fantail and matching it over to a first-rate Lace Pigeon. It may be their yotmg 

 would be the Lace Narrow-tailed Shaker. It is possible the .Almond Shaker, mentioned 

 by Mayok, p, 131, was a first cross. I am given to understand Mr. Frank Redman 

 bred and exhibited some extraordinary white lace Fantails ; it is well worth trying. 

 You may hear of 39 or even 44 feathers in the tail ; it is infinitely better to hear of 36. 

 It is bad having so many, the tails so heavy and crowded that the bird cannot show it 

 to advantage. 



248. (Brent.) — Having finished the high fancy and sagacious birds, it now remains 

 for me to describe the remainder of Fancy Pigeons. This division is to some extent 

 arbitrary, but I am compelled to adopt it, because I cannot find a better. The old 

 Fanciers, with Mr. MoORE at their head, have thrown all other Pigeons, without dis- 

 tinction, under the class of toys, but under the present arrangement it is my intention 

 to include as Fancy Pigeons all such as have any distinct quahties or properties, ex- 

 clusive of colour, by which they are known, and leaving in the fist of toys those in 

 which colour and markings are the principal if not the only property they possess. The 

 first I shall mention under this section is the Faniail, or Broad-tailed Shaker. This 

 Pigeon has a slender beak, a smooth head, a long, slender, and somewhat arched neck, 

 a round full chest, a short back, and clean red feet ; the eyes are always black or dark 

 brown in the white variety ; the tail is composed of a great many feathers ; in most 

 Pigeons it is composed of twelve feathers, but in the Fantail tHey vary from twenty to 

 thirty. I have had beautiful carriage birds with twenty-one ; the highest number I 

 ever had was thirty-one ; I have been informed they occasionally reach the extraordi- 

 nary number of forty, but I am rather doubtfiQ whether, in such cases, some of the 

 shorter or under-tail feathers have not been included ; nevertheless, it is possible that 

 some exceptional birds may considerably exceed thirty. Although a great number of 

 feathers is a desideratum, still, if the tail is too large, it becomes too heavy for the bird 

 to carry properly, and carriage is the chief property of the FantaiL The head should 

 be well thrown back, the chest raised high, the pinion feathers of the wings dropping 

 below the tail. The feathers of the tail are disposed in an arched form, and the bird 

 has scarcely any power to expand or contract them, but elevates the whole so high, 

 that when excited the head and tail often meet ; in the best carriaged birds I have 

 sometimes seen the head pushed between the tail feathers. The long, slender neck, 

 when the bird is excited, has a quick or vibratory motion, from which they derive the 

 name of Shaker. They are not good flyers, consequently not adapted to find their liv- 

 ing in the fields ; their nest places should be roomy, that their tails may not be rubbed 

 or broken, and also to prevent their falling into a bad habit of carrying their tails low, 



