154 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



crossing with Pieds, however, these difficulties have been over- 

 come, and we have seen birds exhibited of late which offered a 

 really close approximation to the English blue-pied Pouter ia 

 miniature. 



Birds shown as Pigmy Pouters must, of course, be judged 

 by Pouter points. The German varieties are judged by attrac- 

 tiveness in appearance and perfection of colour and markings. 

 All of these varieties are hardy and good breeders. The chief 

 difficulty is to keep them small, as they constantly tend to 

 throw back, like Bantams, to their larger ancestry. For this 

 reason there is not the difficulty in finding fresh blood which 

 is encountered in regular Pouter breeding ; on the contrary, in- 

 breeding is of direct benefit in reducing size, and slimness may 

 be sought to any extent. The birds are simply rare because 

 little fancied ; were they bred largely, they would be much 

 easier to produce good in points than the larger birds. Those 

 who wish to breed them should cross with in-bred, and there- 

 fore small and slim standard birds, in-breeding the produce till 

 the desired result is attained. 



CHAPTER XIL 



FANTAILS. 



The Fantail seems to come most naturally next to the Pouter, 

 both being of late so much associated with Scotland. There is, 

 however, not the slightest doubt that this pigeon came from 

 India, where it is still well known, and whence many importa- 

 tions have been made of late years ; American fanciers 

 particularly having several times imported direct from 

 Calcutta. 



At one time this pigeon was divided into two distinct 

 classes, each admired by a distinct school of fanciers, who 

 cultivated what were known respectively as English and 



