154 



PIGEONS. 



quill feathers of the tail, and the mole in which the tail itself is carried. The 

 normal number of feathers in the tail of all the varieties of pigeons is twelve ; 

 in the Fantail the number not unfrequently approaches forty, and even as many 

 as forty-two have been known. 



In order to constitute a good Fantail, however, the tail must be carried over the 

 back, being brought well forward. If the tail is carried horizontally backwards, 

 the beauty of the bird is entirely lost ; on the other hand, it should not be thrown 

 forward so far as to rest upon the body ; nor should the head be passed backwards 

 between the feathers of the tail. If the tail is well carried, the fuller the better ; 

 but in a show-pen a well-carried tail of twenty-eight to thirty feathers is always 



FRONT VIEW Of FANTAIL. 



more effective than a badly- carried one of thirty-eight or forty. The best show- 

 birds will be found to have about twenty-eight feathers iu the tail. 



The tail of the Fantail is often compared with that of the peacock ; but in fact 

 it differs from it most essentially. In the latter bird it is the tail-coverts or lower 

 back feathers that are raised and constitute the gaudy appendage of the bird ; the 

 true tail-quills, which are few in number, are short and stout, and merely serve 

 as strong props to support the train, when raised. In the Fantail pigeon, how- 

 ever, it is the quills of the tail which are erected. 



One curious result follows from the multiplication of the quills — namely, the 

 total obliteration of the uropygium, or oil-gland of the tail, with the .contents 

 of which birds are generally supposed to oil their feathers. There is another 

 singular effect of this abnormal multiplication of the feathers — the central 

 feather of the tail is frequently double, two shafts, each having a vane on both 

 sides, rising out of one quill. 



The neck of the Fantail should be long, slender near the head, and curved in 



