Low- Country 

 nun. 



Book IF. O^^lT HO LOgT. 181 



Under the title of Domeftic, which I have Englifhed tame or houfe Doves, he com- 

 prehends the common wild Pigeon kept in Dove-cotes jWhich is of a middle nature be- 

 tween tame and wild. 



$. ii. 



Divers forts of tame Pigeons. 



- | 



I. fm T m ^Me greater tame Pigeon, called in Italian-* Thmfo & AfiumeBato $ in Etiglif, a- R« rit s. 



f Runt 5 a name ( as I fappofe ) corrupted from the Italian Tronfo ; Though 

 to fay the truth, what this Italian word Tronfo fignifies, and confequently why this 

 kind of Pigeon is fo called, I am altogether ignorant. Some call xhzmColumbe Ruf 

 (ic£, Rujfia-Pigeons, whether becaufe they are brought to us out of Ruff a, or from 

 forae agreement of the names Runt and Rujfa, I know not. Thefe feem to be the 

 Campania Pigeons of Pliny. They vary much in colour, as moft other Domeftic 

 Birds : Wherefore it is to no purpofe to defcribe them by their colours. In refpeft 

 of magnitude they are divided into the biggejl and the leffer kind. The greater 

 aremorefluggiih birds, and of flower flight 3 the fame perchance with thole Gefner 

 faith he obferved at Venice, which were almoft as big as Hens. The leffer are better 

 breeders, more nimble, and of fwifter flight. Perchance theie may be the lame with 

 thofe, which *Aldrovandus tells us are called by his Country men Colombe fotio banche, * omtbol. 

 that is, Pigeons under Forms or Benches, from their place, of various colours, and t>2, P a 8 3*°* 

 bigger than the common wild Pigeons inhabiting Dove-cotes. 



2. Croppers, fb called becaufe they can, andulually do, by attracting the Air, blow 

 up their Crops to that Arrange bignefs that they .exceed the bulk of the whole body 



befide. A certain* Hollander informed Aldrovandus, that thefe Kroppers Dime, as *b*/#i, iralfo 

 they call them, are twice as big as the common Domeftic Pigeons, which as they fly, fignifie* any 

 and while they make that murmuring noife, fwell their throats to a great bignefs, and 

 the bigger, the better and more generous they are efteemed. Thofe that I faw at 

 Mx.Copes, a Citizen of London, living in Jewin Street, feemedto me nothing bigger, 

 but rather leis than Runts, and fomewhat more (lender and long-bodied. Thefe dif- 

 fer no lefs one from another in colour than the precedent. 



3. Broad-tail' d Shakers, called Shakers becaufe they do almoft conftantly fhakeor 

 Wag their Heads and Necks up and down : Broad-tail 'd, from the great number of 

 feathers they have in their Tails 3 they fay, not fewer than twenty fix. When they 

 walk up and down they do for the moft part hold their Tails erect like a Hen or Tur- 

 key-Cock. Thefe alib vary much in colour. 



4. Narrow-tail' d Shakers. Thefe agree with the precedent in thakmg, but differ in 

 the narrownefs of their Tails, as the name imports. They are laid alio to vary in 

 colour. This kind we have not asyet feen, nor have we more to fay of it. 



5. Carriers. Thefe are of equal bignefs with common Pigeons, or fomewhat lefs, 

 of a dark blue or blackilfi colour. They are eafily diftinguifhed from all others, 1 .By 

 their colour. 2. In that their Eyes are compaffed about with a broad circle of naked, 

 tuberous, white, furfuraceous skin. 3. That the upper Chap of the Bill is covered 

 above half way from the Head with a double cruft of the like naked fungous skin. 

 The Bill is not fhort, but of a moderate length. They make ufe of thefe birds to 

 convey Letters to and fro, chiefly in theTurkifi Empire. Perchance thefe may be 

 the Per fan and Turhjfh Pigeons of Aldrovand, all over of a dusky or dark brown co- 

 lour, excepting the Eyes which are fcarlet, the Feet which are of a pale red, and the 

 Bill, which ( as he faith ) is yellow 5 wherein they differ from ours, whole Bills are 

 black. The nature of thefe birds is fuch, that though carried far away they will re- 

 turn fpeedily thither, where either themfelves were bred or brought up, or where 

 they had hatcht and brought up Young. Of this kind we law in the Kings Aviary in 

 St. James's Park, and at Mr. Copes, an Embroiderer in Jewin Street, London. More- 

 over, we read that the Ancients fometimes made ufe of Pigeo ns'm. fending Letters, as 

 for example, Hirtius and Brutus in the Siege of Modena, Hirtim fending a Dove to 

 Brutus, and Brutus back again to Hirtius b having, by meat laid in fbme high places, in- 

 ftructed thefe Pigeons, before fhut up in a dark place, and kept very hungry, to fly 

 from one to another. 



6. Jacobines, called by the Low Dutch,Cappers, becaufe in the hinder part of the 

 Head or Nape of the Neck certain feathers reflected upward encompafs the Head be- 

 hind, almoft after the fafhion of a Monks Hood, when he puts it back to uncover his 



Head. 



