7"/;!? White Spot. . 95 



and beak, and its chief value lies in the quality of its colouring and 

 accuracy of its marking. The irides are yellow or red, following the 

 body colour. The breed occurs in the following varieties : 



The common white spot, in all ground colours, with a white, regularly 

 formed, oval spot on the forehead. The tail, with its coverts, is also 

 white. 



The white barred spot is black or blue in colour, and has, in addition 

 to the marks of the foregoing, white, or white edged with black, wing 

 bars. White barred reds and yellows, as in all other breeds, are rare. 



The white sealed spot is black or blue. The black in addition to white 

 spot and white tail, has the wing coverts scaled or chequered with white, 

 the flights tipped or finched with white spots, and the bars either white 

 or spotted with white like the flights ; but the white in this variety is of 

 a yellow or creamy cast, showing it has its origin from the Suabian pigeon. 

 The blue, in addition to the white spot and taU, has the wing coverts 

 chequered with white, and black bars across the wings. 



The copper winged spot, or English fire pigeon, is the most beautiful 

 of the white spot pigeons. It is thicker set, broader breasted, and shorter 

 than the preceding varieties. It has an orange iris, and must be heavily 

 feathered on hocks, legs, and feet. The upper mandible, according to the 

 German standard, should be white ; but Mr. Ludlow, of Birmingham, who 

 has bred this variety extensively, prefers it dark. It has the white fore- 

 head spot, white tail- and tad coverts. The head, neck, and breast, 

 are dark blue black, lustred with green and purple hues ; the under body 

 and leg feathering should approach the same colouring as much as possible ; 

 and the flights are blue black with a bronzed kite colouring on their 

 inner webs. The back and wing coverts or shoulders are of a burnished 

 copper ooluor, but only after the first moult, the nestling feathers, as in 

 other lustrous pigeons, being very duU compared with the matured plum- 

 age. Mr. Ludlow says the fire pigeon is one of the varieties that show a 

 sexual difference in their colouring, the hens having their copper feathers 

 distinctly tipped with black, which the cocks do not have ; whether this 

 difference exists aU through the breed, or only in one strain of it, I am not 

 aware, but Neumeister makes no mention of it. It is a matter ot taste 

 which of the two appearances is most pleasing. The copper wing is not 

 found with white wing bars. 



