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THE JACOBIN. 
head. According to the colour of the head, it is called the Ked, 
Black, or Yellow-headed Nun. If the bird have white or speckled 
feathers, where there should be one of these colours, it is called * foul- 
feathered,' and its value is much less than it would have been if 
the feathers were pure in colour.' He should have a small head and 
beak, and the larger the tuft or hood is, the handsomer does the 
bird appear, and the more valuable is it reckoned by the fancy.' 
Temminck says that ' The most beautiful specimens of Nuns 
are those which are black, and have the quill feathers and the head 
white ; they are called Nonnains — 3faurins.' 
But the most common sort, and very beautiful birds they are, aro 
what Buffon styles Coquille Hollandaise, or Dutch Shell Pigeons, 
* because they have at the back of their heads several feathers 
which form a sort of shell. They have the head black, the tip 
(whole?) of the tail, and the ends of the wings (quill feathers) also 
black, and all the plumage, which is very peculiar, and they seem 
to take their name entirely from it; their heads being, as it were, 
covered with a veil. 
Two sub-varieties of the Nun are known to continental breeders ; 
one, which they call the Beard Pigeon, has the flight feathers white, 
the head and tail being the only coloured parts ; the other, named 
the Death's-head Pigeon, has the tail also white, the head only 
being coloured 
In size. Nuns are somewhat less than the common Dove-house 
Pigeons. They have a bold graceful flight, are fairly prolific, and 
by no means bad nurses. A peculiarity in the newly hatched 
chicks of the black-headed sort is, that their feet are frequently, 
perhaps always, of a dark lead colour. 
THE JACOBIN. 
* Where there are Nuns,' says Dixon, in his * Dovecote and Aviary,' 
* it is natural to look for Friars in the neighbourhood, and here 
they are, only not half so pretty nor half so good. The J acobins are 
about the most unproductive of our pigeons ; they lay small eggs, 
which they incubate unsteadily, and if they hatch them, nurse 
carelessly. It is best to transfer their eggs to some more trustworthy 
foster parents. These are included among the pigeons technically 
called " Toys ; " Tumblers, Powters, and Carriers, being alone con- 
sidered w^orthy the attention of fanciers.' 
The Capuchin, Jacobite, Kuffled Jack, KufF, are the various titles 
given to this bird, all having reference to peculiarities of ecclesiastical 
costume, which its plumage is thought to resemble. 'Jacobins,' 
says Willoughby, * are called by the Low Dutch Cappers," because 
on the hinder part of the head, or nape of the neck, certain feathers 
reflected upward, encompass the head behind, almost after the 
fashion of a monk's hood, when he puts it back to uncover his 
head.' 
