120 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPEB. 



squeezed almost out of the head. Many of the unnatwrally 

 prominent eyes seen in Short-faced Tumblers are due to this 

 cause ; as also the constant running and irritation which gives 

 so much trouble, and is due either to the compression of all the 

 soft contents of the skull, or the closure of the natural vent 

 through the nostrils. Such abuses cry aloud for a remedy 

 which Mr. Fulton has been the first to publicly demand, and 

 which will never be found whilst judges attach, and teach 

 amateurs to attach, such exaggerated importance to " head and 

 beak." It is a significant fact that since these points were 

 made the cardinal ones, the number and character of Almond 

 breeders has declined, and more than one gentleman left this 

 fancy in disgust as soon as he learnt what he must do in order 

 to win. The remedy is, to give back the old prominence to 

 " feather," and especially to seek again for the difficult yellow 

 ground. There is abundance of work here for any breeder's 

 skill and patience, whilst good heads, once so scarce, are now 

 " made " by the dozen. Good heads can be bred ; and we 

 hesitate to imply that all even of the very best owe their 

 perfection to the process described ; having had birds shown to 

 us with such solemn assurances to the contrary as we feel 

 unable to disregard. But that the " heads " once so rare, 

 and now so general, have all, or even most of them, been 

 genuinely bred, is simply impossible. In fact, what was once the 

 most difficult point is now the very commonest of all, to the 

 detriment of the pigeon in every way. As to the remedy, we 

 are convinced that if the old standard of colour and feather 

 were revived, sought for, und judged by, the result would be 

 a return to that old state of things when the Almond Tumbler 

 was the chosen pet of men of position and family. 



Whole-coloured Short-faces are met with occasionally, though 

 those called so usually show some Agate blood in the quiU 

 and fluff of the feather, as already explained. By choosing 

 birds as free as possible from this, however, real whole-feathered 



