THE ENGLISH POUTER. 61 



elegance of the bird greatly depends. The crop, when distended, should be of as 

 globular a shape as possible. It certainly should not be so enormous as to extend 

 over the shoulders of the bird, and involve part of the body, nor should it force 

 back the head of the bird till it is bent backwards down towards the tail. The 

 crop should be of good size, neither overblown nor contracted. When not inflated, 

 as happens when the bird is not in show, the crop should not hang down as a loose 

 bag, with a few beans and a little water at the bottom, as in that case the bird is 

 said to be slack-winded, and loses all elegance of form. 



" The colour of a Pouter is an important property. The most common are the 

 blue-pieds. These should be a good bright blue, with the wings and the tail well 

 barred with black, and pied with white on the crop in the shape of a new moon or 

 crescent : this white moon should not be too large, nor should the points of the 

 crescent meet around the back of the neck. On the shoulder there should be a 

 mere patch of white, which is termed the rose-pinion ; the flight-feathers should 

 be white, and those covering the legs and feet. There should be no white over the 

 back or any part of the head. The black-pied birds should have the same 

 distribution of colour as the blues. 



" With regard to the reds and yellow-pied, white tails are regarded as ad- 

 missible, not perhaps because they are admired, but because these colours cannot 

 be bred with dark tails. Pure white is also a favourite colour of many breeders, 

 and few birds can look more beautiful than a clean, long-limbed graceful bird of 

 this colour. No person who had the pleasure of ever seeing the stock of the late 

 Mr. Bult, can fail to remember the beautiful sight that his birds presented when 

 walking about the lawn in his garden ; the contrast of the pure white specimens 

 with the green of the closely mown lawn, added in no little degree to the striking 

 character of the group. 



" In addition to these, there are several off-colours, that are not valued in 

 themselves, although the birds may be of the greatest worth as breeding birds. 

 The most common of these is that known as mealy, a kind of dull powdered red, of 

 different depths of colour in different birds. These mealy birds are often the best in 

 limb and feather that the fancier breeds, and although as show birds their colour is 

 regarded as nothing, they are invaluable as breeders. The same is true of 

 splashes and mottles of various kinds, which are also not uncommon." 



The publication of this communication elicited the following letter from James 

 Euthven, Esq., the Honorary Secretary of the Glasgow Ornithological Society. 

 The annual exhibition at Glasgow is known to present the grandest collection of 

 Pouters that is got together in the United Kingdom. The success of this society 

 is in great measure due to the energy and knowledge of the Secretary, whose 

 experiences and intimate knowledge of this breed render his communication of 

 the highest value. Mr. Puithven writes as follows : — 



"In reading over your article on the Pouter, I certainly would differ from you 

 as to the relative importance of the various properties. I should feel disposed to 

 give the most important position to the point that gives the character of the bird ; 



