Foreign Cropper Pigeons. 3 1 1 



found in red and yellow pied pouters ; at leaat not dark enough to matoh 

 the body colour. 



" On beard and heart" (i.e. bib and half moon) " as it is called, we 

 place the same conditions with Pomeranian as with English croppers ; 

 but white feathers on the wings, which with the English are more and 

 more highly prized according to their form, are in all circumstances a 

 defect with the Pomeranian, and a sign of careless breeding or of a bad 

 origin. In consequence of this, these feathers are cut off with a pair 

 of scissors by many breeders. On this occasion, I cannot refrain from 

 blaming this proceeding most decidedly, for there can be no interest, 

 in my opinion, in examining the pigeons of a breeder, of whom we know 

 that he indulges in such rectifications ; however, on the other hand, it 

 may perhaps be represented, that someone may say he sells no pigeons, 

 and removes their feathers in order that his pigeons may please him 

 better, no matter to him whether other breeders allow this proceeding or 

 not. But, if anyone sends pigeons to an exhibition, all the same 

 whether for sale or not, I can find no point from which such 

 manipulations can be defended, for they have only impure motives, 

 such as bragging or base dishonesty. The bearing of the Pomeranian 

 must be high and upright, though not so high as with the English. 

 But, if, as Priitz says in his noteworthy book, 'Bie Arten der Haustauhe,' 

 the back must be arched a little convexly, he is mistaken ; at least I 

 have heard this hog's back, as the English call it, always very expres- 

 sively blamed. 



"Kow, if we compare the two races with each other, we find that size 

 and marking are nearly the same, but with the English, the crop is some- 

 what more inflated, the shape somewhat thinner, the tail more slender 

 and longer, the legs somewhat longer, but less strongly feathered, and the 

 bearing more upright than with the Pomeranian. With both races white 

 feathers occur on the wings, yet this is considered a defect in the 

 Pomeranian, while with the English this mark is highly valued. But this 

 mark is only the result of a careful choice in breeding continued for years, 

 and very dificult to fix ; it occurs mostly in England in the wished-for 

 perfection, only very seldom, and is only known to me by description and 

 pictures from English prize birds, while I have never met with this mark 

 in specimens shown in continental exhibitions in anything like such per- 

 fection. If we place an English and a Pomeranian pattern bird together. 



