220 DOMESTIC PIGEONS: Chap. VI 



them for no other reason than because they are not like what used 

 to be thought good when he was in the fancy before." Hence it 

 would appear that there was a rather sudden change in the character 

 of the short-faced Tumbler at about this period ; and there is reason 

 to suspect that a dwarfed and half-monstrous bird, the parent-form 

 of the several short-faced sub-breeds, then appeared. I suspect 

 this because short-faced Tumblers are born with their beaks 

 (ascertained by careful measurement) as short, proportionally with 

 the size of their bodies, as in the adult bird; and in this respect 

 they differ greatly from all other breeds, which slowly acquire during 

 growth their various characteristic qualities. 



Since the year 1765 there has been some change in one of the 

 chief characters of the short-faced Tumbler, namely, in the length 

 of the beak. Fanciers measure the " head and beak" from the tip 

 of the beak to the front corner of the eyeball. About the year 1765 

 a " head and beak" was considered good, 42 which, measured in the 

 usual manner, was f of an inch in length ; now it ought not to 

 exceed f of an inch ; " it is however possible," as Mr. Eaton candidly 

 confesses, " for a bird to be considered as pleasant or neat even at f 

 of an inch, but exceeding that length it must be looked upon as 

 unworthy of attention." Mr. Eaton states that he has never seen 

 in the course of his life more than two or three birds with the " head 

 and beak" not exceeding half an inch in length ; " still I believe in 

 the course of a few years that the head and beak will be shortened, 

 and that half-inch birds will not be considered so great a curiosity 

 as at the present time." That Mr. Eaton's opinion deserves attention 

 cannot be doubted, considering his success in winning prizes at our 

 exhibitions. Finally in regard to the Tumbler it may be concluded 

 from the facts above given that it was originally introduced into 

 Europe, probably first into England, from the East ; and that it 

 then resembled our common English Tumbler, or more probably 

 the Persian or Indian Tumbler, with a beak only just perceptibly 

 shorter than that of the common dovecot-pigeon. With respect to 

 the short -faced Tumbler, which is not known to exist in the East, 

 there can hardly be a doubt that the whole wonderful change in the 

 size of the head, beak, body and feet, and in general carriage, has 

 been produced during the last two centuries by continued selection, 

 aided probably by the birth of a semi-monstrous bird somewhere 

 about the year 1750. 



Bunts. — Of their history little can be said. In the time of Pliny 

 the pigeons of Campania were the largest known; and from this 

 fact alone some authors assert that they were Runts. In Aldrovandi's 

 time, in 1600, two sub-breeds existed; but one of them, the short- 

 beaked, is now extinct in Europe. 



Barbs. — Notwithstanding statements to the contrary, it seems to 

 me impossible to recognise the Barb in Aldrovandi's description and 



43 J. M. Eaton's 'Treatise on the Tumbler,' 1851. Compare p. r. of Pre- 

 BreeJiaganJ Managing of tht- Almond face, p. 9, and p. '61. 



