Eye and Be an- Wattles. 
7i 
Carrier fancier. One great advantage of such a beak is that it always grows the beak-wattle much 
fuller and faster than a bird with a spindle beak. The generality of Carriers, perhaps, arc more 
or less faulty in this point, showing less substance in the lower mandible than in the upper ; and 
we may lay it down as an invariable rule that if a Carrier — lien or cock — does not show this point 
of excellence when young, it will never show it, the beak being a point that often deteriorates with 
age, but never improves. 
Considering next the beak-wattle of this bird, it will be seen that at the back it arches nicely 
off towards the beak, away from the eye-wattle, so as to prevent the two from becoming what is 
termed crowded together when the two wattles become developed, but leaving a space between 
one and the other. The more space is there to be seen the more attractive does the bird look, and 
one thus formed never becomes crowded together unless it is a very extra beak-wattled bird, when 
it may probably become so between the bottom part of the upper beak-wattle and the eye-wattle. 
Even in this case, however, such a shape as here represented will keep the upper part of the wattle 
free of the eye-w r attle, and the higher the wattle the more space will thus appear ; and thus the 
more beak-wattle there is the longer in face will the bird appear, which is not the case if the wattle 
be badly shaped, so as to crowd upon the eye-wattle. Some fanciers, whatever the shape of the 
wattle may be, never allow it to become crowded, but prevent this by cutting off a portion, which 
they consider improves the appearance of a bird in the same manner as dubbing a game cock. As 
a rule, a bird really bad in this particular is not improved very much by such an operation. As to 
the morality of it we will say nothing save this — we have heard many, and known many more, 
express their disgust at such proceedings, and at “ improving ” birds in such a manner, who did not 
know how to do it; but these same people, almost without exception, as soon as they had learnt 
how, lost their scruples ; and we have seldom known one who knew how to improve a bird who 
did not do it when he thought it required. We have seen a man hold up his hands and shrug his 
shoulders when told how another had thus assisted a bird a little, which he never would have 
thought of doing had he not been told ; and we have known a bird from this very man’s loft, which 
we had seen with our own eyes to possess an exactly similar imperfection, mysteriously lose it 
before his appearance at the next show. We will, however, say that these things are as often as 
not overdone — often done when they would be far better let alone, and still oftener overdone when 
a very little would have been far better ; for it is like altering an ugly face — it may be ugly, but if 
you try altering any single feature you are apt to make it worse instead of better. 
Another fine point in this head is the regularity in build of the eye -wattle. It is round, with 
the eye in the centre, thus showing the same amount of wattle all round. This good quality is 
rather the rule with young hens under twelve months, though not so with young cocks, which are 
very apt to fail behind, or be “ pinch-eyed,” as it is termed ; as are most hens after the age we have 
named, and especially if they have the best class of eye. This is the wattle thin in substance ; 
which, if regular in build and nicely laced, looks so well, gives so little trouble, and causes a bird to 
look thin in cheeks and narrow in skull. The thick, fleshy-eyed birds, on the contrary, while far 
less likely to become pinched behind, become at last so thick that they make the bird appear thick 
in the head and cheeks, and often the skull appears narrow in front and wide behind, which fault, 
when owing to this cause, of course increases with age. It is singular, but true, that hen Carriers 
are not generally either so narrow or so well-formed in skull as the cock birds, that is, if good ones. 
There are some of the little, thin-beaked hens that have the one good point of narrow skull and 
nothing else ; but amongst good birds the cocks are mostly narrower in skull at three years than 
hens at the same age. 
Another good point in this head is the formation of the gullet, which curves well from the 
