THE ENGLISH POUTER. 53 



good bird has, by this means, either fallen into the street, or become a prey 

 to those fatal enemies of the Fancy, the cats. The other extreme is being slack- 

 winded, so that he shows little or no crop, and appears not much better than an 

 ill-shaped Eunt. 



" The second beauty in carriage is their playing upright, with a fine tail, well 

 spread like a fan, without scraping the ground therewith, or tucking it between 

 their legs ; neither should they set up the feathers on their rump when they play, 

 which is called rumping. 



"The last beauty of carriage in a Pouter is to stand close with his legs, without 

 straddling, and keep the shoulders of his wing tight down to his body, and when 

 he moves, to trip beautifully with his feet, almost upon his toes, witbout jumping, 

 which is the quality of an Uploper. 



"A Pouter that would answer all these properties might be said to be perfect ; 

 but as absolute perfection is incompatible with anything in this world, that Pigeon 

 that makes the nearest advances towards them is certainly the best. Some have 

 answered them so well, that I have known eight guineas refused for a single 

 pigeon of this breed." 



This quotation from Moore disposes of the history of the bird, as far as regards 

 English treatises, for more than a hundred years ; for, as before stated, the works 

 subsequently published in this country were but slightly varied copies from this 

 writer. 



On the Continent, however, several notices of the Cropper appeared. Thus 

 Temminck, in his "Histoire Naturelle Generale des Pigeons et des Gallinaces," 

 published in 1813, describes this variety, under the title of Pigeon Gosse-gorge, as 

 follows : — 



"The Pouter is generally a bird of large size. It possesses the peculiar 

 faculty of inflating its crop to a prodigious size. It is by means of drawing in 

 the air and retaining it, that the bird succeeds in inflating himself in such a 

 manner that the crop appears larger than all the rest of the body. It even some- 

 times occurs that he loses his equilibrium in performing this feat. When he 

 springs up he always inflates the crop. 



" Pouter pigeons are found of all colours, the most beautiful and those most 

 sought after are such as are peculiarly marked. The caprice of the amateur 

 regulates the estimation in which the different coloured birds are held. There are, 

 however, some varieties which appear most difficult to obtain. In order to breed 

 these, a very particular attention and great care are required. I have been assured 

 that some persons possess in so high a degree this talent of producing and of 

 creating, so to speak, extraordinary markings in the plumage of pigeons, that there 

 is scarcely a variety of plumage which they cannot obtain at will. But they are 

 often obliged, in order to attain their end, to cross an infinite number of varieties 

 in order to arrive at that particular one that they desire." 



The system thus accurately described by Temminck is one worthy of the notice of 

 English breeders, who, for the most part, are afraid to cross birds of different colours , 



