The Breeds of Pigeons. 165 



Another point to be remembered is that length 

 of beak is not t*he same thing as length of face ; the 

 two do in many instances go together, but there are 

 birds with only ordinary or moderate length of face 

 and skul, but which possess long spindley beaks. 

 Some, in their ignorance, speak of these birds as 

 being long in face. They are not. They simply 

 possess abnormally long beaks, and such birds do 

 not show that gentle rise from the beak to the top 

 of the skull. 



A very important point in the Exhibition Flying 

 Homer is the eye. I am not referring altogether to 

 to its colour, but more particularly to its shape and 

 size. It must be full and bold, very bright and clear, 

 so as to give the alert appearance needed, and be in 

 due proportion to the size of the head. Some eyes 

 are very large, but they are not bold ; they are more 

 or less sunken. Such an eye, no matter how good 

 in colour, spoils an otherwise good bird. A nicely 

 shaped, round bold eye of a pearl or white colour, 

 set in a fine, dark cere, adds immensely to the attrac- 

 tions of a bird. 



A tip-top Exhibition Flying Homer should bear 

 some close resemblance to the following standard, 

 which has been compiled by the Exhibition Flying 

 Homer Society : — 



BEAK. — Fairly stout and straight set, both 

 mandibles of nearly equal substance, close fitting, a 

 hard dark colour preferred. In pieds, a parti- 



coloured beak is admissible. 



WATTLE. — Small and smooth in texture, free 

 from coarseness, and V-shaped. 



EYE. — To be pearl colour, bold, alert, and full 

 of intelligence. 



CERE.— Small, hard, and finely laced, dark 

 colour preferred. In pieds, a parti-coloured cere is 

 admissible. 



The HEAD in profile, rising gradually and al- 

 mo6t imperceptibly from wattle to above theeye, 

 showing no angularity or flatness, the whole giving 

 the appearance of a nice straight-faced bird, with 



