Chap . v. description of breeds. 151 



mentions another sub-variety, called the Kalmi Lotan, which begins to roll 

 over if only touched on the neck with a rod or wand. 



Sub-race III. Common English Tumblers. -These birds have exactly 

 the same habits as the Persian Tumbler, but tumble better. The English 

 bird is rather smaller than the Persian, and the beak is plainly shorter. 

 Compared with the rock-pigeon, and proportionally with the size ot 

 body, the beak is from 15 to nearly -2 of an inch shorter, but it is not 

 thinner There are several varieties of the common Tumbler, namely, 

 Baldheads, Beards, and Dutch Pollers. I have kept the latter alive; 

 they have differently shaped heads, longer necks, and are feather-footed. 

 They tumble to an extraordinary degree ; as Mr. Brent remarks, 16 "Every 

 " few seconds over they go ; one, two, or three summersaults at a time. 

 " Here and there a bird gives a very quick and rapid spin, revolving 

 " like a wheel, though they sometimes lose their balance, and make a 

 " rather ungraceful fall, in which they occasionally hurt themselves by 

 " striking some object." Erom Madras I have received several specimens 

 of the common Tumbler of India, differing slightly from each other in the 

 length of their beaks. Mr. Brent sent me a dead specimen of a " House- 

 tumbler," 17 which is a Scotch variety, not differing in general appear- 

 ance and form of beak from the common Tumbler. Mr. Brent states that 

 these birds generally begin to tumble " almost as soon as they can well 

 " fly ; at three months old they tumble well, but still fly strong ; at five 

 " or six months they tumble excessively ; and in the second year they 

 " mostly give up flying, on account of their tumbling so much and so 

 " close to the ground. Some fly round with the flock, throwing a clean 

 " summersault every few yards, till they are obliged to settle from giddiness 

 " and exhaustion. These are called Air Tumblers, and they commonly 

 " throw from twenty to thirty summersaults in a minute, each clear 

 " and clean. I have one red cock that I have on two or three occasions 

 " timed by my watch, and counted forty summersaults in the minute. 

 " Others tumble differently. At first they throw a single summersault, 

 " then it is double, till it becomes a continuous roll, which puts an end 

 " to flying, for if they fly a few yards over they go, and roll till they 

 " reach the ground. Thus I had one kill herself, and another broke his leg. 

 " Many of them turn over only a few inches from the ground, and will 

 " tumble two or three times in flying across their loft. These are called 

 " House-tumblers, from tumbling in the house. The act of tumbling seems 

 " to be one over which they have no control, an involuntary movement 

 " which they seem to try to prevent. I have seen a bird sometimes in his 

 " struggles fly a yard or two straight upwards, the impulse forcing him 

 " backwards while he struggles to go forwards. If suddenly startled, or 

 " in a strange place, they seem less able to fly than if quiet in their accus- 

 " tomed loft." These House-tumblers differ from the Lotan or Ground 



16 'Journal of Horticulture,' Oct. 22, tage Gardener,' 1858, p. 285. Also Mr. 



18(31, p. 7b. Brent's paper, ' Journal of* Horticulture,' 



1-7 See the account of the House- 1861, p. 76. 

 tumblers kept at Glasgow, in the ' Cot- 



