1 94 Fancy Pigeons. 



of good carriage. The legs should be moderately long. They are seldom 

 too long, but often too short. 



Carriage. — The carriage of a first class shaking fantail is something 

 wonderful to behold. The head is thrown back till it rests at the root 

 of the tail, the crown of the head resting far below the level of the 

 breast. The head sometimes goes through the taU, which is a great 

 fault. Some birds have an up and down motion in their necks, the 

 head leaving its position against the tail, and returning to it by a succes- 

 sion of strokes. I dislike this style, and prefer the head to remain fixed 

 in position, while the whole body of the bird is in a constant state of 

 agitation. A good one is unable to walk forward while in action, but has 

 to turn its tail in the direction it wishes to go, when it backs with a 

 dancing style of movement. It will occasionally make three or four 

 complete turns round, as on a pivot. There seems to be some invisible 

 influence trying to drag it off the ground, which it takes all the power 

 of gravitation to counteract. Resting only on the tips of its front toes, 

 the hind ones are quite off the ground. The shoulders are carried 

 close to the body, and the flights are often to be seen dragging on the 

 ground. When a good one wants to fly, it turns its tail in the direc- 

 tion of the place it wishes to reach, and, after several feints, it 

 makes a dash, turning rapidly in its flight. With all their extraor- 

 dinary carriage these birds are not bad fliers. Like other fantails, and 

 unlike other pigeons, they contract instead of spreading their tails 

 in flight. 



Tail. — The tail feathers of the fantail ought to be both longer and 

 broader than in other pigeons of similar size. They do not generally shed 

 their fibres freely when growing, and unless some attention is paid to 

 this, by carefully scraping off the husk or skin of the feathers, they will 

 often reach their entire length without opening out, and become rotten. 

 A little care will obviate this. Malformed taU feathers are common in 

 fantails. These are usually two separate half feathers growing from one 

 quill, and when they take positions at right angles to each other, spoil 

 the appearance of the tail. They are not the result of plucking the tail 

 feathers, nor will plucking them produce perfect feathers, though they 

 may be destroyed entirely by repeated plucking when still half grown. 

 The tail feathers ought to be frizzed at their ends and edges for about 

 half their length from their extremities ; not, however, like the lace 



