196 



DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 



Chap. VI. 



of any colour, but if the wing-coverts alone are blue, the two 

 black bars surely appear. I have myself seen, or acquired trust- 

 worthy evidence, as given below, 24 of blue birds with black bars on 

 the wing, with the croup either white or very pale or dark blue,, 

 with the tail having a terminal black bar, and with the outer 

 feathers externally edged with white or very pale coloured, in 

 the following races, which, as I carefully observed in each case,, 

 appeared to be perfectly pure : namely, in Pouters, Fantails, 

 Tumblers, Jacobins, Turbits, Barbs, Carriers, Kunts of three 

 distinct varieties, Trumpeters, Swallows, and in many other 

 toy-pigeons, which, as being closely allied to 0. livia, are not 

 worth enumerating. Thus we see that, in purely-bred races 

 of every kind known in Europe, blue birds occasionally appear 

 having all the marks which characterise 0. livia, and which 

 concur in no other wild species. Mr. Blyth, also, has made the 

 same observation with respect to the various domestic races 

 known in India. 



Certain variations in the plumage are equally common in the 

 wild O. livia, in dovecot-pigeons, and in all the most highly 

 modified races. Thus, in all, the croup varies from white to 



24 I have observed blue birds with all 

 the above-mentioned marks in the fol- 

 lowing races, which seemed to be per- 

 fectly pure, and were shown at various 

 exhibitions. Pouters, with the double 

 black wing-bars, with white croup, 

 dark bar to end of tail, and white 

 edging to outer tail-feathers. Turbits, 

 with all these same characters. Fantails 

 with the same ; but the croup in some 

 was bluish or pure blue. Mr. Wicking 

 bred blue fantails from two black birds. 

 Carriers (including the Bagadotten of 

 Neumeister) with all the marks: two 

 birds which I examined had white, and 

 two had blue croups ; the white edging 

 to the outer tail-feathers was not pre- 

 sent in all. Mr. Corker, a great breeder, 

 assures me that, if black carriers are 

 matched for many successive genera- 

 tions, the offspring become first ash- 

 coloured, and then blue with black 

 wing-bars. Kunts of the elongated breed 

 had the same marks, but the croup was 

 pale blue; the outer tail-feathers had 

 white edges. Neumeister figures the 



great Florence runt of a blue colour 

 with black bars. Jacobins are very 

 rarely blue, but I have received au- 

 thentic accounts of at least two in- 

 stances of the blue variety with black 

 bars having appeared in England; 

 blue jacobins were bred by Mr. Brent 

 from two black birds. I have seen 

 common tumblers, both Indian and 

 English, and short- faced tumblers, of a 

 blue colour, with black wing-bars, with 

 the black bar at the end of the tail, 

 and with the outer tail-feathers edged 

 with white ; the croup in all was blue, 

 or extremely pale blue, never abso- 

 lutely white. Blue barbs and trum- 

 peters seem to be excessively rare ; but 

 Neumeister, who may be implicitly- 

 trusted, figures blue varieties of both, 

 with black wing-bars. Mr. Brent in- 

 forms me that he has seen a blue barb ; 

 and Mr. H. Weir, as I am informed by 

 Mr. Tegetmeier, once bred a silver 

 (which means very pale blue) barb 

 from two yellow birds. 



