The Laugher. 131 



mentions two stocks o£ these birds he knew of. The first closely resem- 

 bled blue chequered dovehouse pigeons, but were rather smaller and had 

 very slightly feathered legs, the only difference he could notice being a 

 slight fulness at back of the neck behind the head, and the edge of the 

 eyelids being inclined to red. The cook of a pair he had was dark 

 chequered, the hen the same, but pied with white. The other stock, 

 which was imported from India, he was told, and which were taken thence 

 by Mahometans who had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, were of the 

 same dovehouse form, but with narrow peaked crowns, and in colour of 

 a light haggle, or something between a grizzle and a gay mottle. A 

 pair lately described, that belonged to Mr. Betty, were little bigger than 

 African owls, rather long in flight and tail, blue rumped, clean legged, 

 and of a dark blue chequer. Moore says "It is red mottled; and some 

 tell me they have seen blues. They are said to come from the holy Land, 

 near Jerusalem." It seems, therefore, that the laugher is of different 

 colours, sometimes peaked, and sometimes shghtly feathered on the legs. 

 Their peculiar voice is what makes them a distinct breed, and Moore de- 

 scribes it thus : " When the Cock plays to his Hen, he has a hoarse Coo, 

 not unlike the Guggling of a Bottle of Water, when pour'd out, and then 

 makes a Noise, which very much imitates a soft Laughter, and from 

 thence this Bird has its Name." 



Mr. Betty's pair were described in the iiiie Btoch Journal in February, 

 1878, as "singing pigeons." "The notes were very soft, between 

 cooing and drumming, clear, audible throughout the room, and were con- 

 tinued for about half a minute . . . The hen often, but not invariably, 

 sings an accompaniment in a lower key." 



I have a pair of the same race of pigeons that came, I was told, from 

 Egypt. They are white, with peaked crowns, hog manes, well feathered 

 legs, orange irides, brownish tinged beaks, and are both ticked with red 

 on the head and throat. They are thickly made, low-standing pigeons, 

 above the average size, and more like the tnmipeter breed than the fore- 

 going descriptions. The cock laughs and drums for from ten to thirty 

 seconds when salacious, his notes being both musical and pleasant to 

 listen to. The hen responds in a more subdued voice, and both shake 

 their wings with a tremulous motion when their concert is going on. 



K 2 



