The Archangel. 



79 



immaterial whether there is a notch below the peak dividing it from the 

 back neck feathers, or a kiad of hog mane, showing no break, so long as 

 the peak itself is correct. 



The head, neck, breast, belly, thighs, and vent feathers should be of a 

 bronzed copper colour, burnished with metallic lustre, solid and even. 

 But this appearance does not pervade these feathers all through, as 

 underneath they are of a dull black, which should not, however, assert 

 itself to the eye, though it generally does about the thigh and vent 

 feathers. The back, wings, and rump, should be as black as possible, 

 though generally more or leas bronzed, accompanied by metallic tints of 

 green, blue, purple, and ruby colour, which show in any light, but which 

 in a strong or sunlight, when the bird is moving about, sparkle like 

 coloured jewels of price. The flight feathers are bronzed black or kite- 

 coloured, and the tail is blue black, with a black bar at the end. I have 

 heard of black tailed archangels, but have never seen any, nor do I 

 consider that they should be other than dark blue tailed, both on account 

 of the greater variety in the plumage, and because, though blue-tailed, 

 they can stiU show as much lustre over their feathers as any breed we 

 have. At least in Germany, from where we got them, the standard, 

 according to Neumeiater, is the blue-barred tail. The legs and feet 

 should be unfeathered and of a bright red, the nails dark. 



Besides the above coloured archangel pigeons there are others whose 

 whole plumage is more subdued. The copper is changed to yellow, the 

 back and wings to a blue black, and the tail to light blue, barred with 

 black. This variety has no lustre compared to the other. It is a natural 

 change that occurs in breeding, and that has a value for breeding. I 

 have bred such from two birds of standard colouring, and they may 

 be matched to the dark variety, when they wiU breed both colours and 

 others midway between. 



The archangel does not assume its fuU colour till after its second 

 moult, for of the twelve secondary flights but two (the two next the 

 primaries, as in all pigeons) are changed during the first moult. The 

 breeder has, however, a good idea of what a bird wUl eventually be when 

 it leaves the nest. 



There are so-called archangels, all white and all black, which may 

 have originated from standard birds as natural sports, by way of 

 albinism and melanism. The black variety is very pretty with its 



