130 PIGEONS. 



caught one, by placing his hand on the back, he put his first and second fingers 

 on either side of the neck, and shook the bird four or five times horizontally, 

 holding it in one hand only ; he then put it on the ground, and it tumbled back- 

 wards so quickly that the eye could not follow it. After what I judged to be a 

 dozen tumbles, he took it up and breathed on its head (why, I do not know), and 

 put it on the ground, when it appeared as well as possible, and picked about. 

 The same process, with the same result, was gone through with the hen. The 

 birds, whilst tumbling, appeared as if in a fit and unable to control their motions. 

 I then asked the man why he did not tap them on the head, as I had before seen 

 done to Lowtans, and he said, ' these pigeons were not high caste enough for 

 that.' I made him try, however, but without any result. 



"I have made a great many inquiries about the origin of the Lowtan. It 

 appears that Abool Furjool, Prime Minister of Achbar Khan, and author of 

 ' Aneen Achbar,' or ' Annals of Achbar,' about the year 1596, wrote a treatise on 

 pigeons, of which birds his master, Achbar, was very fond. Darwin alludes to 

 this in his ' Origin of Species,' but, singularly enough, does not say a word about 

 the Lowtan. However, Abool Furjool is said to give a full description of them in 

 his book, and says there are two sorts — first, ' Kulmee Lowtan,' or pigeons which, 

 when ' touched,' tumble ; and secondly, ' Sadhee Lowtan,' or common Lowtan. . 



" I have been informed that all Lowtans would go on tumbling until they died, 

 and that they not unfrequently die whilst tumbling, although apparently taken 

 up in good time. The matter seems to me well worthy of being pursued, and 

 any new facts noted which would show how this very curious faculty has been 

 acquired, or whether it is only a disease which has become hereditary. 



" The pah I have have had several pairs of young ones ; the peculiarities of the 

 old birds, such as the slight ruff on the head, have been faithfully reproduced in 

 the young ones. The tumbling propensity is hereditary, as I tried the young 

 ones when fifty days old, and they tumbled just as the old ones do. 



" I have not seen the Kulmee Lowtan, as all that were at Cuddapah were 

 purchased for some petty rajah, at 25 rupees (£2 10s.) per pair. The Kulmee 

 Lowtan tumbles on being slightly struck on the head with the finger. The Sadhee 

 Lowtans are pure white, with a small ruff of feathers turned forwards at the 

 crown and down the neck. 



"I am afraid the word 'Tumbler' has led to a misapprehension; 'Boiler' 

 would be more correct. Indeed, Lowtan is from the Hindustani ' lotna,' to roll 

 on the ground. 



" On taking the bird in the hand, with the head between the first two fingers, 

 shaking the bird horizontally five or six times, and then putting it down, it rolls 

 backwards with outstretched wings, apparently in a fit, and goes on rolling in a 

 zigzag course as long as you leave it, all volition apparently suspended. The 

 natives say if you leave them they will roll until they die. I have never left them 

 long enough to prove if this is correct. " Smooth-bore." 



Another correspondent, who employs the nom cle plume of " G-unga Gee," 



