CHAPTER SEVEN. 



THE ENGLISH CARRIER, THE DRAGON, 

 BARB, AND ANTWERP. 



The Engliih Carrier 



has been described as the " King of Pigeons." It is one 

 of the most difficult pigeons to breed, and for this reason 

 its votaries have been very few in recent years. 



The Carrier is often, through its name, confounded with 

 a pigeon that carries messages, but the present-day Carrier 

 is useless for this purpose, having for so many generations 

 been bred for show and confined in pens that its homing 

 properties are quite lost, and the bird is too heavy and cum- 

 bersome to fly. Antwerp fanciers used the English 

 Carrier as a cross to obtain size and bone. There is no 

 doubt that the bird was originally the true aristocratic 

 homer in England, but, thanks to its cultivation for show 

 purposes, it became too valuable to risk on the road. 

 Moore and other old writers speak of the journeys made 

 by this breed. 



Whilst the Carrier still holds the title of " King of 

 Pigeons," it is a pleasure to note that the Carrier fancy 

 is the hobby of many good professional gentlemen and 

 fanciers of standing and repute. 



There are, as Fulton states, three stages in a Carrier's 

 life — ^the young bird stage, the yearling stage, from the 

 time the bird is eighteen months old, and the old bird 

 stage. It is in the latter stage that the bird fully develops 

 its valuable properties, such as wattle, cere, and beak. 



In the days of the old school of fanciers Carriers were 

 very considerably " faked." I have known men who 



