1 16 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
be ever so good in colour and marking, which are no doubt hard to get, yet, if deficient in these, 
however attractive to the eye of a Pied fancier, it must be pronounced not equal in what constitutes 
the Pouter form. But should the Pied bird be as good, or even pretty nearly as good as the White 
in these points, unless it be very bad in its superior points of colour and marking, it certainly 
is superior to the White, and any judge who lets his fancy put them on a level, does great injustice 
to the difficulties of the Pied breeder. 
The breeder of Whites has, in fact, tivo difficulties less to contend with than the breeder 
of Pieds. He has neither to strive as the latter has to get his colour good, nor his i narking good — 
both, as we have seen, difficult enough. In the case of the Blue he has almost three less, since 
he has no bars to look after either, which in birds crossed or bred with Mealies are so apt to come 
brown or “ kite-barred.” The White is also naturally more hardy than any of the Pied varieties 
except perhaps the Blue ; and, finally, perhaps no other colour in Pouters is naturally so inclined 
towards the much-desired slenderness of body. The greatest difficulty in breeding them is to get 
the proper shape and apparent length of limb, and a well-shaped crop, and to keep up the size, 
which the very tendency to slimness has a propensity to diminish. Whites are seldom seen 
with so much apparent length of limb as the Pied varieties, partly owing to their strong constitution 
causing them to be, as a rule, long in feather, which dwarfs the other dimension. But besides this, 
in White Pouters the leg is very apt to spring from too near the shoulder, which also makes the 
limbs seem short and injures the carriage. Very few Whites are free from this fault except such 
as have been descended from crosses with the Mealy, Blue, or Splash birds, which greatly improve 
the apparent length and setting-on of the limb. Of all these, however, the best cross is with the 
brown-barred Mealy, which seems to give way or breed back to the White after crossing sooner 
than any other. In such crosses the Mealy should, of course, be the hen, and if possible have 
a white, or rather a flesh-coloured beak. If the beak is black, this will cause more trouble to 
get rid of than the colour of the plumage ; besides which, it is always accompanied with an 
orange-coloured eye. It is not only that these are considered false colours or blemishes in them- 
selves, the proper colour being black, or what is called “bull-eyed,” but the stain of black on the 
beak or of orange in the eye show that the bird is not yet bred pure white with any certainty ; and 
as such it ought not to be allowed to compete in a White class. So long as they remain, Splashes 
are liable to occur ; but scarcely ever from birds purely white in body, and having the beak and 
eyes correct, which hence become valuable signs. 
The first cross of Whites with any of the colours we have named will sometimes produce one 
White and one Splash, but more frequently Splashes. We have often got one White and the other 
only slightly splashed ; but the Splashes of such a first cross being recrossed on the White, will 
infallibly produce Whites. In crossing with Reds it is easy to choose a flesh-coloured beak, as 
we have spoken of for Mealies, and so with Yellows ; but with Blues it is difficult. Still, some 
Blues arc to be met with which have the under mandible of the desired colour, though the upper 
be black ; and these should be selected. The cross with Blue-pieds will produce the white 
plumage as soon as the other crosses, unless the Blue be of a sooty or chequered colour; but such 
a cross gives much more time and trouble to obtain eye and beak right ; until which time the 
stock cannot be relied upon. Being the natural colour of pigeons, the Blue is probably pre- 
potent, as Darwin calls it ; which is indeed borne out by this cross often giving a deal of trouble 
from a grizzled colour in the tail ; but still this is the cross which as a rule produces the best- 
limbed birds. In all these crosses, as a rule, it is best to let the cock be white ; but if the 
breeder has obtained anyhow a fine Splash cock, he may be matched with White, and will very 
fpeedily produce fine Whites. 
