108 THE PHACTICAL PIGBOU KEEPKB. 



done. No high-class pigeon, it may safely be said, gives more 

 constant occupation and interest to the breeder, in counteracting 

 successively the vai-ious tendencies which develop as we have 

 tried to explain. Now guarding against a black beakj now 

 against pale wattle ; now throwing in more wattle ; now re- 

 storing beak properties generally ; now eradicating heavy jew 

 wattle — his work never comes to an end, while at the same 

 time no pigeon responds more surely to judicious matching. 



CHAPTER IX. 



SnOKT-FACBD TUMBLERS. 



The class of pigeons known as Short-faced Tumblers have, 

 now so completely lost all propensity to tumble, and been so 

 long bred for other properties, that many people have qtiestioned 

 whether they were ever true Tumblers at all. It is true they 

 are now bred for fancy points without reference to performance 

 of any kind, and are therefore purely fancy birds : but there 

 is no real doubt that they are at least mainly descended from 

 performing Tumblers. As we have already seen, even 

 etymology is worth a great deal as argument in pigeon history, 

 and there is strong proof even in the name ; but other evidence 

 is not lacking. Moore first describes Tumblers as performing 

 birds, and afterwards mentions the Almond or Ermine variety : 

 and even Eaton, in 1858, states that he has seen Almonds per- 

 form well. At the present date, though many breeders have 

 never seen one of their birds tumble, a tumbling Short-face is 

 still occasionally met with. The anonymous " treatise " pub- 

 lished in 1765, however, presuming it can be depended upon, 

 puts the fact beyond doubt, and closely defines the date of tran- 

 sition. Concerning the Almond it expressly states that "this 



