DOMESTIC PIGEONS 265 



is a most difficult task. It is a beautiful bird, being a rich 

 almond-brown, spangled throughout with deep black. The 

 flights and tail should be variegated evenly with almond, | 

 black and white. Hens are invariably weaker in color than 

 cocks. Almonds usually leave the nest with very little 

 spangling, then gradually becoming darker as age increases. 

 Cocks are generally at their best after the third annual molt. 



In breeding two Almonds are seldom paired together. If 

 this be done, the progeny are seldom of the color of their 

 parents and very often " bladder-eyed," these organs being 

 enlarged, projecting and quite useless for sight. It is cus- 

 tomary to mate an Almond with an Almond-bred bird of 

 another color. Those most frequently used are red and 

 yellow agates, which are self s, with grizzled flights and tails ; 

 kites, or bronzed blacks, and duns. It is unusual to get 

 more than one Almond in a nest, and cocks are more numer- 

 ous than hens. 



Short- faced Mottles, Balds and Beards also exist, but 

 are now so scarce as to be almost never seen. 



The Long-faced Tumbler is subdivided with regard 

 to presence or absence of feathers on the legs, the bird being 

 known as a " muff " in the first place and a " clean leg " 

 in the other. In both varieties the body is short and com- 

 pact, with prominent chest. The head is rounded, with 

 well-developed top-skull. The beak is straight-set, stout 

 and comparatively short. They are prolific breeders and 

 excellent feeders. 



Clean-leg tumblers are bred in a great variety of colors, 

 the most popular being the selfs — red, yellow, black and 

 white. There are also solid blues and silvers and almonds. 

 Among the marked varieties, some are very striking. Mot- 

 tles are either black, red or yellow, with a rosette of white 

 feathers, each separate from the others, on the shoulders, 

 and a V-shaped mark on the back. In breeding Mottles 



