The Breeds of Pigeons. 175 



When the birds are placed in the pens they 

 should be treated to a few dainties such as canary 

 seed and hemp seed, each time their owner enters the 

 loft or pen room. This will go a long way to over- 

 come any shyness or sulkiness which any of them 

 may possess. Patience and perseverance bring their 

 own reward so far as the training of Pouters is con- 

 cerned, but it must ever he remembered that it is 

 useless to show untrained Pouters. 



The outstanding features of a Pouter are size and 

 shape. Its body must be long and slender, and nar- 

 row in the waist. Its size is more apparent than 

 real; that is to say, it is not really so big as it looks. 

 Its spread of tail and blowing of crop make it appear 

 big. Fineness of body and fineness of limb being 

 great essentials, the bird cannot be big. 



The crop or globe of the Pouter is its chief 

 characteristic, the one point that distinguishes it from 

 all other Pigeons. This must, when inflated, be 

 large, full, and round, well balanced on either side 

 of the neck; a crop that is not well balanced is not 

 symmetrical, and fails in its chief point. When at 

 rest it must have such power of elasticit}- to prevent 

 its being pendulous, a "slack crop" being a bad fault. 



The legs should be long, about seven or ei.ght 

 inches in length, set well back in the body, with a 

 slight inward slope to the hock, the shank being 

 straight. They must be close together, so close that 

 when viewed from the side thej^ appear to touch. 

 The feet must be well formed and well spread, so as 

 to support the body well when the bird is showing. 

 The feet should turn outward. Thus, unlike other 

 Pigeons, a Pouter is not "Pigeon-toed." This 



allows for the diisplay of the foot feather. The limbs 

 must be closely feathered right down to the toes. 



Length of body and length of feather are 

 features ol importance. P'rom the tip of its beak to 

 the end of its tail, a high-class Pouter should 

 measure about 20 inches. Much of this length is in 

 the tail. The neck should be long, as upon the 

 length of the neck depends in great measure the crop 

 dev'elopment. The shoulders should be small and 



