123 



hardiest and most prolific. From one to four years old is considered their most pro- 

 ductive age ; hens wear out sooner than cocks. I had a cock that bred at twelve years 

 old, and a neighbour had one which bred well at twenty years old. 



310. Although naturalists assign the origin of our tame Pigeons to the Blue Rock 

 Pigeon or Eock Dove/ 1 think the chequered Dove-house Pigeon the more probable an-^ 

 cestor. Not only is this Pigeon more extensively diflFused, but it is very constant to its 

 home ; they have been known to return to their former abode, the distance of eighty 

 miles. They are not so shy as the Eock, and are very easily tamed, and if properly 

 treated will readily take up their abode where desired ; and what makes me incline still 

 more to the Dove-house Pigeons as the origin of our tame or fancy Pigeons is, that if 

 the varieties are neglected and permitted to intermingle, the type of the Dove-house 

 Pigeon will be more and more apparent among them. Still I have my doubts if all 

 the fancy Pigeons had one common origin ; it may be possible, but it does not appear 

 probable. 



THE SWALLOW-TAILED PIGEON. 



311. Dr. Bechstein, in his fourth volume of the Natural History of Germany, 

 gives the foUovdng description of this variety of domestic Pigeon. Columha Domestica 

 Forticata, the Swallow-tailed Pigeon, is about the size of a common field Pigeon, but 

 rather longer made ; the most remarkable point is the forked tail, which is formed like 

 that of a House Swallow. It is rare ; in colour black, or black spotted with white, 

 with or without a hood — very lively in its manners but not very prolific. The Pigeon 

 Fanciers consider it one of the finest varieties. 



THE TEEN OE SEA-SWALLOW PIGEON. 



312. This beautiful variety of toy Pigeon is called by the French " Hirondelle de mer," 

 and by the Germans " Die See Schiocdhen Taube" or for shortness simply *' Schwalhen 

 Tauhen" which literally means Swallow Pigeon, but as they derive their name from 

 their marking, which resembles that of a small kind of sea gull, called a Tern, though 

 known to the French and Germans as a Sea Swallow, it follows that the name Swallow 

 Pigeons, as commonly applied to them in this country, is inappropriate, and that the 

 proper English name would be Tern or Gull Pigeon ; the Germans also designate them 

 ** Feen Tauhen" (Fairy Pigeons) and " Number ger" or '* Farben Flugeliche." 



313. Of all the toy Pigeons (I mean those I have classed as such, in distinction from 

 the Fancy Pigeons, which have many properties), these are, with the exception of the 

 Suabian Spangled Pigeons, the most worthy of the Fancier's notice, their decided and 

 beautiful marking, and the contrast of their colour, placing them in character above 

 the general run of toys. They are good breeders, about the size of the Dove-house 

 Pigeon, and are equally light and active in their movements, though the feather-footed 

 varieties, which are most esteemed on the Continent, are not well adapted to provide 

 their own living, owing to their short and heavily-feathered feet ; there are of this sort 

 of Pigeon both turned crowned and smooth -headed, as well as clean -footed and shod ; 

 their necks are short, their heads, breasts, and backs broad, their ground plumage is 

 white ; their marking consists of the scalp, wings, and the slippers in those that are 

 shod being coloured, which in the blue variety resembles the partition of colour in the 

 Tern, the bird before mentioned, from which they derive their name. 



314. Their points of marking are as follows : — First the head ; the upper mandible 

 should be dark and the lower light ; the scalp or top of the head in a hne from the cor- 

 ners of the mouth across the eyes, evenly marked, passing round to the back of the 

 head dark, but in those that are turned-crowned the hood must be perfectly white. 

 Secondly, the wings of these should be wholly coloured without any white feathers, 

 but the epaulets or scapular feathers, which lie on the back, at the junction of the 

 wings to the body, should be quite white, and as they overlay a part of the wing when 

 closed, it necessarily appears narrow, which is considered a particular point. Thirdly, 

 the feet, if shod, should be thickly covered with coloured feathers from the heel or hock 

 joint to the toes, but the boots, or as Shangai Fanciers would style it, the vulture hock, 

 must be white. 



315. Herr Gottlob Nedmeistee, of Weimar, enumerates five sub-varietes, as follows : — 



