Chap. I. SELECTION BY MAN. 39 



which are first given to him in some slight degree by 

 nature. No man would ever try to make a fantail, till 

 he saw a pigeon with a tail developed in some slight de- 

 gree in an unusual manner, or a pouter till he saw a 

 pigeon with a crop of somewhat unusual size ; and the 

 more abnormal or unusual any character was when it first 

 appeared, the more likely it would be to catch his atten- 

 tion. But to use such an expression as trying to make 

 a fantail, is, I have no doubt, in most cases, utterly in- 

 correct. The man who first selected a pigeon with a 

 slightly larger tail, never dreamed what the descendants 

 of that pigeon would become through long-continued, 

 partly unconscious and partly methodical selection. Per- 

 haps the parent bird of all fantails had only fourteen tail- 

 feathers somewhat expanded, like the present Java fantail, 

 or like individuals of other and distinct breeds, in which 

 as many as seventeen tail-feathers have been counted. 

 Perhaps the first pouter-pigeon did not inflate its crop 

 much more than the turbit now does the upper part of 

 its oesophagus, — a habit which is disregarded by all 

 fanciers, as it is not one of the points of the breed. 



Nor let it be thought that some great deviation of 

 structure would be necessary to catch the fancier's eye : 

 he perceives extremely small differences, and it is in 

 human nature to value any novelty, however slight, in 

 one's own possession. Nor must the value which would 

 formerly be set on any slight differences in the individuals 

 of the same species, be judged of by the value which 

 would now be set on them, after several breeds have 

 once fairly been established. Many slight differences 

 might, and indeed do now, arise amongst pigeons, which 

 are rejected as faults or deviations from the standard of 

 perfection of each breed. The common goose has not 

 given rise to any marked varieties ; hence the Thoulouse 

 and the common breed, which differ only in colour, that 



