known by tteir, duller plumage, owing to the nest feathers of 

 dark birds being edged with brown. . Their wing-pinion fea- 

 thers are also smaller, more pointed, and frequently brown- 

 ish at the tip. Even if they have moulted, these, the Be- 

 condaxy wing-feathers, are usually retained till the next sum- 

 mer, and appear smaller, dingier, and of less substantial fabric 

 to what they assume afterwards. 



Old age shows itself in the wr inVliTig of the nostril covers, 

 the sunken eye, the rough and thickened appearance of the 

 eyelids, and the rough feet. 



It will, however, be^ found more difficult to discriminate 

 between the sexes among fancy pigeons than among the com- 

 mon dove-cot stock, where all the birds are of a certain stamp. 

 It wiU be, therefore, as well — as regards fancy pigeons espe- 

 cially, considering the extra pecuniary loss a mistake in 

 selection may involve — to lay down more explicit directions to 

 tell a cock from a hen bird, whatever may be the breed. The 

 following are the rules observed by one of the most successful 

 of modern pigeon breeders, and laid down by. him for the 

 benefit of his kind : — 



" The cock's breastbone is longer than the hen's ; her vent 

 bones are set wider apart ; but this, also, varies with age. The 

 -coo of the copk is also louder, and more sonorous, than that of 

 the hen, which is shorter, and somewhat hurried in manner; 

 neither does the hen generally coo so much as the cock. 

 Lastly, their gestures are the most certain signs. Place the 

 doubtful bird in the matohing-pen, away from all others, for a 

 few days, tiU it gets tolerably used to its new abode, which 

 win much depend upon the bird's being wild or tame. Secrete 

 yourself where you may not be noticed, if the bird is wild, but 

 where you can see its manners and movements ; then introduce 

 a merry cock, who will at once play up to the stranger, and, if 

 a hen, she will acknowledge his advances by the twinkling of 

 her eyes, nodding her head, an action of the throat as if swal- 

 lowing, slightly fluttering her wings, and, as she moves before 

 him, making a curtsey, at the same time raising the shoulders 

 of the -wings, and slightly spreading her tail. On the other 

 hand, if a cock, a battle will most likely be the result, from 

 ■which the later-introduced bird generally tries to escape. In 

 this case, remove him, and put in a hen, to which, if he is at 

 all inclined to mate, he wiU at once play up in a merry tone, 

 bowing his head, sweeping the ground with his spread tail, 

 find siDmetimes spinning round and round, or jumping after her." 



