

PREFACE. 



TN compiling the following pages the Editor has endeavoured to produce a 

 ■*- treatise that should not only furnish the amateur of Pigeons with a greater 

 amount of practical information on the different varieties than is to be found in 

 any previous volume, but also to treat the whole subject in a more scientific man- 

 ner than had hitherto been attempted. Hence the introductory chapters on the 

 structure of the Pigeon ; the natural history of the Blue Kock Dove, from whence 

 all our varieties have descended; the account of the origin of the different 

 varieties, &c, &c, But whilst these topics have been discussed, full space has been 

 devoted to the practical part of the subject, and the characteristics and manage- 

 ment of the different varieties have been more fully described than has been done 

 in any other book. 



The original works in English on the subject of Pigeons are few in number. 

 They include Moore's " Columbarium," which was published in 1735 ; the reprints 

 of Moore, which appeared, with slight additions, as "The Treatise on Domestic 

 Pigeons," 1765, and " The Complete Pigeon Fancier," ascribed to Girton, but 

 which was originally advertised as having been written by William Thompson ; and 

 " The Treatise on the Almond Tumbler," published anonymously. From these 

 works the remaining treatises have been in the main compiled. Eaton's Treatise 

 is confessedly a reprint of Moore and the Treatise on the Almond Tumbler, 

 with additional notes. The Eev. E. S. Dixon's " Dovecote and Aviary," and 

 Mr. Selby's " Treatise on Pigeons," in the " Naturalist's Library," do not call for 

 special notice ; but the Editor must not omit to acknowledge his obligations to 

 the valuable fugitive articles contributed by the late Mr. B. P. Brent to the Field 

 and the Poultry Chronicle. It may be stated, that whatever information he has 

 taken from other writers has been in all cases acknowledged. 



