The English Carrier. 251 



as possible, and rise high above the beak with a forward inclination at 

 its summit, which is called being well tilted. The growth of the beak 

 wattle has been compared to that of the cauliflower, which is a good 

 illustration. It ought to rise in three distinct portions as shown, and be 

 as equal as possible in formation on each of its sides, so as to have their 

 indentations or crevices corresponding and alike. The wattle on the 

 under mandible is called the jew wattle, a term not in use in the old 

 pigeon books, and the origin of which is obscure. Some have considered 

 jewed a corruption ol jawed; but, as it was customary for the Jews, 

 during the last century, to wear their beards when the English did not do 

 so, the word may be no corruption or technicality, but mean, literally, 

 hearded. The carrier seems to have had little jew-wattle in Moore's time ; 

 he refers to the beak wattle as being " sometimes join'd by two small 

 Excrescences of the same kind on each Side of the under Chap." The 

 picture of a carrier in the Treatise, however, is well jewed. The jew 

 wattle ought to be similarly formed to that on the upper mandible,, 

 though less in degree, so that when all is fairly well formed, the beak 

 with its wattles, upper and under, has the shape of a peg top. Some- 

 times the jew wattle grows very much forward, and is heaviest towards 

 the point of the beak, and this, though not the correct form, is 

 generally found on what are very stout birds. A form of beak wattle, 

 called the walnut wattle, has the three portions on the upper man- 

 dible very much in one mass, and not so prominently defined as in 

 the peg top style. This form, when lar;;e and well shaped, is also 

 valuable. A full sized beak wattle should measure 4in. in circumference. 

 The head ought to be long, narrow, and flat on the top. Length is 

 necessary for the growth of eye wattle, and to prevent the crowding 

 together of the beak and eye wattles. Length of head assists what is 

 called the distance, or space dividing the eye-wattle from that of the 

 beak, and this is also improved by the tilting of the latter. However, 

 Moore very truly says, when writing of the distance, " but I cannot 

 allow this to be a Property, because when a Carrier comes to be three 

 or four years old, if the Eye is broad, and the Wattle large, they must of 

 Necessity meet." This is no doubt true ; at the same time a clear 

 dividing space or distance between the wattles is admired, and the 

 greater the length of head the more distance there will be. The head 

 ought to be narrow, and as much as possible equally broad over its 



