86 Fancy Pigeons. 



the Continent as i-esembling the toad in ahape. The common variety 

 figured by Boitard and Corbie has no hood. The yellow marked ones, 

 according to them, are called Hiro)i(h'Ues Siam, while the Hiron<lellcs 

 FoAive EtmceU, or sparkling fawn-coloured swallow, is described as 

 follows : '' This charming- bird is extremely rare in France ; it can hardly 

 be got excei^t in Germany, where it is not common. Its mantle is fawn 

 coloured, agreeably scintillated with black or red," which would aj^pear 

 to be an almond-feathered variety. The colours of the swallow are 

 generally good, and sometimes very rich in quality. It is found, in 

 black, red, yellow, blue, and silver, with dark bars and without bars, and 

 in off colours. 



The Silesian swallow pigeon, according to Neumeister, answers the 

 foregoing description, except that it is marked on the head with only a 

 frontal spot, above the beak, of the size of a pea, while some have not 

 even this mark, but are white-headed. Besides shell-crested and plain- 

 headed ones, a variety exists double-crested or with a rose over the beak, 

 like a trumpeter or priest. The Silesian swallow is best obtained in the 

 Upper Lansitz. 



The Niirnberg swallow is a peculiarly feathered variety, known, 

 according to Neumeister, from ancient times. In marking it is like the 

 illustration, but the quality of its colours is exceedingly rich, owing to 

 a certain fat or oil in its system, which it has in common with certain 

 Eastern pigeons. Its plumage fits loosely, but at the same time is thick, 

 soft, and fatty to the touch. The colours are fiery and full, the black 

 deeper and more velvety than with all other (German) species of pigeon ; 

 the white, on the other hand, looks as if oiled, for which reason this 

 pigeon is called in Niirnberg ''the greasy fairy." All the feathers under 

 the wings, about the thighs, and round the vent, instead of shedding their 

 fibres in the usual way, remain merely cases filled with yellow fat or wax, 

 or at most only shed a small portion of their extremities. I have found 

 the same peculiarity in other pigeons, and at one time considered it a 

 disease, instead of which I now beheve it is this fat or grease in the system 

 which gives the extraordinary metallic lustre to the few varieties of domes- 

 tic pigeons that possess it. The black Niirnberg swallow has most of 

 these grease quills, and from its beautiful green lustre is called the 

 *' velvet fairy ; " next it comes the red, while the yellow and blue have 

 not so much of this peculiar feathering. 



