The Short-faced Almond Tumbler. 165 



Thirty years afterwards, the almond tumbler had made great progress in 

 London, for it is described by the author of the treatise of 1765 at length, 

 and as then distinct in character from the common tumblers. It was then 

 " a very small Pigeon, with a short body, short legs, a full chest, a thin 

 neck, a very short and spindle beak, and a round button head, and the 

 iris of the eye a bright pearl colour." But the illustration which accom- 

 panied this description was disappointing, as it represented a pigeon of a 

 much commoner type compared to the modern short-faced tumbler, than 

 some of the other illustrations were, compared to their modern representa- 

 tives. The author had, however, become enamoured of the almond, and 

 considered that the title of the King of Pigeons, conferred by former 

 fanciers on the carrier, would with greater propriety be conferred on the 

 new favourite. Some of the reasons he gives for this opinion are its 

 exceeding beauty and diversity of plumage, its increasing value — twenty 

 guineas having been paid for live pairs, and those not of the best — and the 

 ease with which it could be bred, compared with the pouter and carrier. 

 Then, after dilating through four pages over the difficulties of pouter 

 breeding, he adds, "The above, and many other inconveniences too 

 tedious to mention attending the pouter, and no trouble at aU (com- 

 paratively speaking) attending the other, easily accounts for the pre- 

 ference given to the almond tumbler, ' ' which requires ' ' no attendance while 

 breeding, provided you supply them with meat and water, and throw 

 them a little straw." Considering that he himself quotes a sale of 

 pouters by auction, where the prices realised were as high as sixteen 

 guineas a pair, and that Moore had known eight guineas refused for a 

 single pouter, the price of the almond tumblers — two guineas each — was 

 nothing great ; but then he says they were not the best, and probably 

 some of the lot of five pairs were worth much more than the average 

 price of the lot. 



The fancy for the almond tumbler was now established, and the year 

 before (1764), a standard had been published setting forth the perfections 

 and imperfections of the bird. This was entitled " Ordinances, estab- 

 lished by the Columbarian Society," and was headed by a picture of an 

 almond, " elegantly engraved on copperplate." The almond went on 

 increasing in popularity after this, and the knowledge of its name, at 

 least, became widely known, so that people who would not have recognised 

 it though they had seen it, had heard of the celebrated almond tumbler. 



