176 Pigeons and All About Them. 



well clipped into the sides of the body ; the flights 

 must be long and wide in web, extending almost to 

 the end of the tail, and carried just above it. 

 The tail is long and fine, and carried in a continuous 

 line from Vhe body, and must not be allowed to drag, 

 but be carried just off the floor. That Prince of 

 Pigeon Fanciers, the late " Bobbie " Fulton, used to 

 say, "A Pouter should not sweep the floor." 



Skull properties are of little account in a Pouter. 

 The head and beak are dove-shaped, the wattle small 

 and neat. The beak colour varies according to the 

 colours. In Blacks and Blues it should be black, in 

 Reds and Yellows of a horny flesh tint, and in Whites 

 a light flesh tint. 



The eye. of the Pouter is small, and carries little 

 cere. In colour it is dark or "bull'' in Whites, and 

 _vellow or orange in the other colours. 



Carriage is a great feature in the Pouter, and 

 when in full show a bird should be almost perpen- 

 dicular from the eye to the feet. A good bird is 

 most active in carriage, and thus is scarcely two 

 seconds in the same position. No pen can describe 

 the ever-changing attitudes of a free playing Pouter. 

 Action covers much, and it must be seen to be irnder- 

 stood. 



The standard colours of the Pouter are Blues, 

 Blacks, Reds, Yellows, and Whites, whilst such as 

 Mealies, Chequers, and Strawberries are considered 

 off-colours. Although one speaks of Pouters as 



though they were whole-coloured birds, they are not, 

 as the under part of the body, sides, legs, back, and 

 primary flights are all white. In addition to this, 

 the crescent marking extends from just below the 

 eyes right across the crop, and is, as its name denotes, 

 a half-moon ■\\'hite marking. Then there is the 

 shoulder marking, commonly called the rose, which 

 should be a mottling of the shoulders by about a 

 dozen white feathers, and, to be perfect, be almost in 

 the shape of a rose. 



Blues are the most populai and most largelv bred. 

 Blacks are very handsome, but the colours which 

 appeal most to the earnest breeder are Reds and Yel- 



