The Short-faced Mottled Tumbler. 175 



tumbler. Prom a careful study of them, I conclude they are the work of 

 a faithful and conscientious artist, and if not older than Moore's " Colum- 

 barium," they are at least older than the treatise of 1765. As I shall 

 have to notice several of them later on, I shall defer stating my reasons 

 for fixing their age at present. The almond represents a common tum- 

 bler in shape and general style, carrying its wings over its taU. It is a 

 rich feathered bird, showing white in its flight feathers. I may also here 

 mention that two of the set represent varieties I have already written of 

 — the nun and helmet. The nun is a black, full flighted as far as shown, 

 having the eight primaries in sight, coloured. It has a very deep bib, a 

 very full shell, and a pure white iris. The helmet is a red, of the kind 

 Moore mentions, marked as the nun with coloured flights, smooth headed, 

 and with a red pearl iris. The pictures are evidently portraits, as many 

 little faults are represented, which would have been left out had the 

 artist meant to depict perfect birds. 



The Mottle. 



As already pointed out, from the " Treatise on Pigeons" of 1765, and 

 from the old handbiU, black splashes and black grizzles were formerly 

 sub-varieties of the short-faced almond tumbler. These gradually settled 

 down into a separate variety, and are referred to at page 64 of that 

 book, as follows : " There was also a prize last season for black mottled 

 tumblers, whose properties should agree with those of the almond tumbler, 

 except the feather, which should be a black ground, the body mottled 

 with white, with a black tail and flight ; and when they are in perfection 

 they are an excessively pretty fancy, and very valuable. There is also 

 another very pretty fancy, equal at least, if not superior to the black 

 mottled — viz., the yellow mottled tumbler, whose properties likewise agree 

 with the almond tumbler, except the feather, which should be a yellow 

 ground, the body mottled with white, and a yellow flight and tail. Either 

 of these two last mentioned fancies are extremely useful (provided they 

 answer in their other properties) to intermix occasionally with the almond." 

 The illustration of the mottle accompanying the remarks represents a 

 long-legged common-looking type of tumbler, with a black flight and tail, 

 and white body, over which are dotted about thirty-four well separated 

 black feathers. I scarcely think it represents the author's intentions, 



