2o6 Faiicv Pigeons. 



mane at one time, is, at another, only a mass of rough feathers. The 

 outline of the hood and mane should form part of a circle, and the 

 deeper in feather a jacobin is from ridge of mane to bottom of chain, 

 and the broader from front of chain to tippet, the better, for all of 

 which a long neck is of the greatest consequence. The great difficulty 

 is to get the whole formation even in its outline, and firm in texture as 

 well, for, the feathers being long, soft, and silky, they are generally 

 inclined to be loose. 



Colour. — The chief colours of the jacobin are red, yellow, and black, 

 and for the most part they are of good quality. Before the introduction 

 of certain foreign pigeons, jacobins were indeed regarded as sometimes 

 perfect in colour ; but I have never seen any with the same lustre and 

 fatty quills about the under body, as I have referred to when writing of 

 the swallow, and which the Smyrna turbiteens have in perfection. The 

 red, yellow, and black, which is the order in which jacobins exist at 

 present as regards quality in properties, are, however, generally good, 

 and sometimes very good in colour, though not absolutely perfect when 

 compared with turbiteens. The thigh and vent feathers ought to be as 

 lustrous as the wing coverts, though they often faU away in reds and 

 yellows to a half tint, and sometimes to a mere grey, which is an indica- 

 tion of bad colour elsewhere. The nearer the thigh and vent feathers 

 approach the colour of the wing coverts, the better will be the colour 

 throughout. There are blue and silver jacobins, but, so far, they do not 

 approach the red, yellow, and black, in quality. Mottles also exist, and 

 they are an old variety, being mentioned by Moore. Mottles are chiefly 

 reds, and, while retaining the white head, flights, and tail, they should 

 be marked as much as possible with single coloured feathers over a white 

 ground. Pure whites are favourites, and present a diffloulty in regard to 

 pearl eyes, being inclined, like other pure white pigeons, to be hazel or 

 broken in the irides. When whites have a coloured feather or two in the 

 hood or chain, the pearl eye generally accompanies them ; and as it is 

 impossible to detect the removal of a few feathers, what appear to be 

 white jacobins at shows are not always so in reality. In off-colours, the 

 chief are the strawberry or sandy, of various shades ; duns ; red and yellow 

 chequers ; an occasional red or yellow mealy, with distinct wing bars ; 

 and the very dark chequer or bad black, which, while often of a fair black 

 on the wing coverts, is of blue grey on the thighs and vent. These are 



