CHAPTER X. 



THE BREEDS OF PIGEONS. 



In pre\ious chapters I have dealt with housing, 

 breeding, feeding, moulting, and other details of 

 general management ; in a word, what has gone 

 before may be termed the practical portion of nn 

 «ork. These latter chapters may be styled the 

 descriptiA'c, as in them 1 purpose giving a brief 

 description, not of all breeds of Pigeons, as my space 

 will not allow of that, but of those varieties which are 

 most highly esteemed, and most generally kept bv 

 fanciers of the twentieth century. This being so, I 

 naturally commence M'ith the King of Pigeons. 



THE CARRIER. 

 This handsome bird has for long enjoved pride of 

 place in the Coliimbophile Kingdom, and although 

 to-day it has not so great a popularity as in days of 

 yore, yet none would be so bold as to dispute its 

 position as the King of Pigeons. A well-grown, 

 properly developed Carrier is, indeed, a most hand- 

 some Pigeon. Towards the end of the nineteenth 

 century a great craze set in for extreme and inordi- 

 nately sized wattles, and in the rush for this property, 

 shape and carriage (two most essential properties), 

 were somewhat neglected. The Carrier is a large, 

 upstanding bird, of most majestic appearance, and 

 size is an important feature. A weak, puny, under- 

 sized bird, however good in head properties, will 

 never go far on the show bench. Size and length are 

 of great value. Length of face, length of neck, 

 length of bodv, length of feather, and length of leg 

 are properties keenlv sought for, and highly appre- 

 ciated when seen. From the tip of the beak to the 

 end of its tail a representative male member of the 

 familv should measure at least i<Sin. Hens, naturallv. 



