134 PIGEONS. 



country. It has a very short beak, like a bullfinch, with a very small wattle, and a 

 naked circle of tuberous red flesh round the eyes, whose hides are of a pearle 

 colour ; the broader and redder the flesh is, the more the bird is valued, though 

 it is very narrow when the bird is young, and does not come to its full growth till 

 they are four years old. Some of them have a tuft of feathers on the hinder part 

 of the head, somewhat like a Finnikin, and others not. 



" Mr. Willughby, in his description of this bird, is guilty of a very great 

 mistake, in imagining the tuberous flesh to be white in some birds of this kind, 

 which it never is, though it will grow pale when the bird is sick ; but when it 

 recovers, always reassumes its wonted redness. 



" Their original colour is either black or dun, though there are Pieds of both 

 these feathers ; but they are bred from the Barb and Mahomet, and are not so 

 much valued." 



The compiler of the Treatise of 1765 copies Moore in his account of the Barb 

 almost verbatim, and, as usual, without any acknowledgment, adding nothing of his 

 own except that some Barbs are splashed, and that he has seen one that was an 

 Almond. 



Mr. Brent's account of the origin of the breed is very loose : he says that he 

 has read that they are to be found wild in Barbary, and also that they are much 

 prized in India. The first statement is certainly destitute of the slightest 

 foundation, as the Barb is an artificial variation, existing only in a state of 

 domestication. 



The Bev. E. S. Dixon merely repeats the account of previous authors. 



For the following admirable account of the properties of the birds of this breed, 

 we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. P. Jones, one of the most enthusiastic 

 admirers and successful breeders of the variety. He writes as follows : — 



"Without pretending to much knowledge of the ancient history of the Barb, 

 it may pretty confidently be affirmed that it has always held a high place 

 among fancy or toy pigeons ; indeed, among the numerous varieties comprised in 

 the catalogue of toys, it is not assuming too much for the Barb to say that it 

 holds the very first rank in that very interesting group, and may fairly be classed 

 as next in importance to the high-caste Almonds, Carriers, and Pouters : and it 

 requires as much patience, as great an amount of skill and experience, or (what 

 after all may have more to do with the result than many breeders like to 

 acknowledge) as great a share of good luck, to produce a perfect pair of Barbs as it 

 does any of the highly-prized varieties just named ; and for intrinsic value among 

 fanciers they are not far behind any others, as £10 and upwards is not an 

 unusual price to be obtained for a first-class bird. 



"A few years ago, some very first-rate Barbs were imported, by one of the 

 principal metropolitan dealers, from the south of France, from some of the ports 

 on the coast of the Mediterranean, the progenitors of which had probably at some 

 time or other come from the opposite African shore — at least the belief prevails 

 that from thence came our first Barbs. From these imported kinds just spoken 



