CVRIZ FOR GLUTTONY. 
331 
a Powter must have his tail well spread out, and not touching the 
ground, nor drooping close to, or between the legs ; if the bird rests 
upon his rump it is called * rumping,' and this is a great fault. The 
shoulders of the wings must be kept close to his body, and rather 
high up, as if he were shrugging them ; he must keep his feet well 
together, walking chiefly on his toes. He should measure eighteen 
inches from the point of the beak to the tip of the tail, and his body 
should slope off taper from the shoulders. As to colour, buffs, blues, 
and whites are the most common, either pure or intermixed. Tho 
yellow-pied Pouter should be marked as follows ; the front and 
higher part of the crop white encircled with a shining green, mixed 
with the colours with which he is pied ; but if the white reach the 
back of the head he is called ' Eing-headed ; ' there should be a 
patch in the shape of a half moon falling upon the side of the neck, 
of the same colour with which he is pied ; if he have not this, he is 
called ' Swallow- throated,' and this again is a defect. To be perfect 
the head, neck, back, and tail should be miiform. 
The Blue-pied Powter should have two black streaks or bars near 
the end of both ^vings ; if these be of a brown colour, the bird is 
termed "Kite-barred," and is not worth so much. When the pinion 
of the wing is speckled with white in the form of a rose, it is 
called a " Kose-pinion," and is highly esteemed; when the pinion 
has a large dash of white on the outer edge of the wing, he is said 
to be "Bishoped," or "Lawn-sleeved." The bird should not be 
naked about the thighs, or spindle-shanked ; but the legs and thighs 
should be short, straight, and well covered with white, soft, downy 
feathers. The nine larger wing feathers ought also to be white ; 
if they be not so, the bird is called "Foul flighted ;" if five only are 
white, he is called " Sword flighted." The Powter is neither a prolific 
breeder, nor a good nurse, and is therefore likely to degenerate, if 
not repeatedly crossed with fresh stock. It is a stay-at-home bird, 
and therefore useful as a good example to the more restless kinds. 
If the hen Powter' s eggs are taken from her, others should be sup- 
plied, or she will go on laying, and thus weaken herself. The certain 
sign of the Powter' s being out of health is the hanging of his crop 
like an empty bag. He is a greedy bird, and will sometimes stuff 
to repletion. When this is the case, the following is the mode of 
treatment recommended: — Put the glutton into a stout stoclang, 
with his feet downward, then stroke the crop u]^wards ; hang the 
stocking upon a nail, place some water within reach of the pri- 
soner's bill, and leave him to digest his food at leisure. When he 
has done* this, confine him for a time, and feed him sparingly, or he 
will overgorge himself again. 
Some crosses between the Po'O'lers and other birds are held in 
esteem ; that with the Carrier is most so, as being a bird of powerful 
flight; they are called "Light Horsemen," sometimes "Dragoons" — 
the latter term is also sometimes applied to the cross between the 
Povt^er and the Tumbler. The hen Powter has also the power of 
