DOMESTIC PIGEONS 257 



yery large tails, but coarse in body and poor in action. The 

 problem of modern breeders has been to combine the two 

 types, a task in which they have been completely successful. 



The Fan-tail of today is a small, round-bodied bird with 

 hard, tight feathers. The head is carried far back, and when 

 the bird is at attention it should rest at the base of the tail, 

 thus throwing the chest into greater prominence. The head 

 and neck are moved continually, with a nervous, jerky 

 motion. 



The tail rises nearly to the perpendicular, and should 

 form more than half a circle, flat and well spread. Forty 

 or more feathers have been recorded, but most birds carry 

 several less. Evenness and freedom from breaks are of 

 more importance than numbers. The wings should drop 

 below the tail, without catching in the side feathers. 



The head of the modern bird is smooth, although at one 

 time crested specimens were common. 



The Fan-tail is found chiefly in white, black, blue, red 

 and yellow, although the two latter have never been brought 

 to the same state of perfection as the others. At the present 

 moment an effort is being made to fix the black-barred silver. 

 There are also Saddlebacks, which have the wings colored, 

 except for the primaries, as in the Turbits. 



In the Lace Fan-tail the feathers are deficient in web- 

 bing, owing to the absence of the tiny booklets which nor- 

 mally hold the barbs together. Laces are seen most fre- 

 quently in white, but other colors are known. 



In breeding Fan-tails there is often difficulty in getting 

 fertile eggs, owing to the extreme nervousness and constant 

 action of the best birds. This is overcome to some extent 

 by clipping the side feathers of the tail or even the entire 

 tail. 



