116 PIGEONS. 



for these tiny pets. If the young Tumblers are very fine, or the 'weather cold, it 

 may he necessary to shift them several times ; thus, several pairs may he shifted 

 in rotation, the Almonds themselves taking an elder pair of some of their com- 

 panions. Their loft should he kept scrupulously clean. They are fond of bathing; 

 their water must be kept clean and sweet, and their food be of the best quality. 

 Each pair should be provided with a separate breeding-pen, so constructed that it 

 can be closed at pleasure, "either to keep in a troublesome gent, or to prevent others 

 annoying a weakly one. Earthen pans should be provided for nests, placed on a 

 shelf in the pen, and short straw or fine heath twigs for building materials. A 

 great deal of care and attention is necessary to insure success. No one will, there- 

 fore, wonder at the high prices paid for good birds." 



In quoting the several authorities on this highly valued breed, we must not omit 

 reference to the two distinct works which have been published on this favourite 

 variety. 



The first was entitled " A New and Compleat Treatise on the Art of Breeding 

 and Managing the Almond Tumbler, etc. By an old Fancier and a Member of 

 the Columbarian Society, held at the Queen's Head Tavern, Holborn. London, 

 Alex. Hogg & Co., 16, Paternoster Bow." 104 pages, 8vo. There is no date on 

 the title-page, but the dedication to the gentlemen of the Columbarian Society is 

 dated " London, March, 1802." This book is very scarce and difficult to 

 obtain. 



The second work was " A Treatise on the Art of Breeding and Managing the 

 Almond Tumbler. By John Mathews Eaton, 1851." This includes a very large 

 proportion of the work published in 1802, with many valuable and peculiarly 

 original remarks by Mr. Eaton, and was afterwards published as part of that 

 writer's larger Treatise on Pigeons, 1858. 



It is exceedingly interesting to trace the gradual establishment of a variety 

 which has been so recently produced as the Almond Tumbler. We have already 

 noted that Moore, writing in 1735, barely alluded to the breed. The author of 

 the " Treatise " of 1765 devoted a few pages to its consideration. Alluding to the 

 breed as being recently established, and not even then well understood, he also 

 describes the mode in which the variety was obtained by matching birds of dif- 

 ferent colours together, intermixing the feather, viz., blacks, black grizzles, 

 yellows, whites, duns, &c, and says Almonds are always attainable if you are 

 endowed with patience sufficient for the tedious process, which requires a length 

 of time. 



The " Old Fancier," writing in 1S02, gives the following as the characters of 

 the breed as then established : — 



" Feathee. — The first thing that strikes the eye on looking at the Almond 

 Tumbler in the area is the feather ; or perhaps the shape may strike some, if that 

 should happen to be very good ; but as I think feather ought to have the pre- 

 ference, I will take that first. 



" The ground of the feather should be, strictly speaking, yellow, but that, with 



