THE ENGLISH CAEKIEE. 75 



French amateurs ; but no bird containing the properties of the Carrier is to be 

 met with abroad, excepting in the case of birds exported from England. 



Such being the case, we turn to the earliest English authority on fancy pigeons 

 for a description of their properties, and find that Moore, in his " Columbarium," 

 writes as follows : — 



" The Carrier is larger in size than most of the common sorts of pigeons : T 

 measured one whose length from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail 

 was fifteen inches ; this, though not one of the largest, weighed near twenty 

 ounces. Their flesh is naturally firm, and their feathers close, when they stand 

 erect upon their legs ; their necks being usually long, there appears in them a 

 wonderful symmetry of shape'beyond other pigeons. 



" The upper chap of the bill is half covered from the head, with a naked 

 white tuberous furfuraceous flesh, which projects or hangs over both its sides on 

 the upper part nearest the head, and ends in a point about the middle of the 

 bill : this is called the wattle, and is sometimes joined by two small excrescences 

 of the same kind on each side of the under chap. This flesh is in some 

 Carriers more inclinable to a blackish colour, which is generally the more valued. 



" The eyes, whose iris, or circle round the black pupil, is generally of the colour 

 of a reddish gravel, are equally surrounded with the same sort of furfuraceous 

 matter, for about the breadth of a shilling ; this is generally thin when it spreads 

 wide, and is most valued, yet when the flesh round the eye is thick and broad it 

 shows the Carriers to be of a good blood that will breed very stout ones. 



" A Carrier is generally reckoned to have twelve properties, viz., three in 

 the beak, three in the wattle, three in the head, and three in the eye. 



" To begin, therefore, with the first, the properties of the beak are to be long, 

 straight, and thick. As to its length, an inch and a half is reckoned a long beak, 

 though there are very good Carriers that are found not to exceed an inch and a 

 quarter. The straightness of the beak adds a wonderful beauty to its length, and 

 if otherwise it is said to be hooked-beaked, and is not so much esteemed. The 

 thickness of the beak is likewise a very great commendation, and if it fails in 

 this point it is said to be spindle-beaked, which diminishes something of its 

 value. 



" The next three properties are those of the wattle, which ought to be broad 

 across the beak ; short from the head towards the apex, or point of the bill, and 

 tilting forward from the head ; for if otherwise it is said to be pegg-wattled, 

 which is very much disesteemed ; and, therefore, some people, to impose upon 

 mankind, and enhance the price of an indifferent bird, have artificially raised the 

 hinder part of the wattle, filled it up with cork, and wired it in with fine wire, in 

 such a manner as not to he easily perceptible, especially to gentlemen who are not 

 adepts in the Fancy. 



" We now ccme to consider the properties of the head, which are its length, 

 its narrowness, and its flatness. When a Carrier has a long narrow head, and a 

 very flat skull, it is much admired; and if otherwise, it is said to be barrel headed. 



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