170 Pigeons and All About Them. 



and purity of colour. P,.ed, Black, and Yellow Scan- 

 daroons are what their name implies, and could the 

 same, beautifttl colouring be infused into many of the 

 other breeds known to the English Fancj% tlreir 

 value and beauty would be considerably enhanced. 



Scandaroons are rather quarrelsome and pug- 

 nacious, and he who would keep them must give 

 them plent}' of perch room. Box perches are the 

 best for them, as b_v their use quarrelsome members 

 of the stud can be kept from doing harm to other 

 birds unawares. In selecting stocl-: for breeding, the 

 cliief points are length of face, hei.ght and fulness of 

 arch, and stoutness of beak. Birds with straight 

 faces, crooked or spindley beaks, and fiat faces and 

 crowns, are of little worth. 



The beak, which is so prominent a feature, 

 should be very long, stout, well arched, closeh' fitt- 

 ing, blunt at the tip, and white in colour. The beak 

 wattle should be fine and even in texture, long and. 

 full, not too flat, yet not rising so as to break the 

 profile of the face. A coarse , wattle will completely 

 spoil an otherwise good face. 



The skull must be long and narrow, well arched 

 from the beak to the crown, and free from angles or 

 lumps. In fact, from the tip of the beak to the back 

 of the skull should be an unbroken semi-circular 

 elongated outline, whilst from side to side the skull 

 should be round, any tendency to flatness taking 

 away from the arched appearance. 



The eye and eve cere, althott,gh not of great im- 

 portance in themselves, have much to do with the 

 general finish of the head. In Picds and Whites the 

 eye should be "bidl" or dark, in Reds and Blues rich 

 bright red, and a paler red or orange in Yellows. 

 The ceres should be in proportion to the size of skull 

 and beak wattle, fit closely to the skull, and be of 

 rich fiesh colour bordering on red. 



The neck should be very long, slender, and 

 swan-like m curve, the chest wide and prominent; 

 the back should be flat, the wings should be rather 

 short, yet strons with the flights well folded, or 

 jiacked ; the tail, also, should be short. 



