THE MAGNiriCEKT. 



PIGEONS. -PART' II. 



DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 



THE AECHANGEL. 



No bird is more ricli and unique in its colouring than this. 

 It is a steady breeder and a handsome flyer ; but from some 

 oversight the stock is so little cultivated, that first-rate arch- 

 angels will fetch almost enough money to stock a dove-cot 

 ■with tumblers, or other of the commoner sorts. 



The head of the archangel (his name would bespeak him a 

 Eussian) is decorated with a little plume much like that of the 

 crested trumpeter ; his head — indeed the whole fore part of his 

 body — is copper-coloured ; the tail, wings, and hinder parts of 

 the hoAf, of a dark blue; the iris orange-red, and the feet 

 crimson. Altogether the archangel is a bird whose acquaint- 

 ance is desirable. A person accustomed to pigeons can tell 

 almost to a certainty which are the cocks and which are the 

 hens. The cock has a thicker neck, a stouter bill, and is fuller 

 about the cheeks. The hen looks milder; has a more timid 

 expression of face ; is thinner about the neck, base of the beak, 

 and cheeks. 



The age of pigeons is more difficult to determine than 

 their sex. Young birds that have not yet moulted may be 

 3 ^ 



