164 
The Illustrated Book of Plgeons. 
Mottle so much the better, and such marking is by no means very rare — such a bird should not be 
mated to a Yellow, but, if possible, to a Whole-feathered Red. Failing that, we would choose a 
Red Agate Whole-feather — that is, not showing any white on the surface — if possible ; or if this 
too is unavailable, showing as little white as possible. The reason of this matching is that the 
white feather is by far the strongest ; and if the male bird has enough of it, it will be found that 
this alone is quite sufficient to impart enough, if not too much of it, to most of the progeny ; all 
that is wanted in a Mottle being the rose of small white feathers on each shoulder, and the few 
feathers across the back, called the handkerchief-mark, which give it its name. 
The next great point to attend to is to reject every bird which has a white patch on the front 
of the head. This is termed a blaze on the face ; and we can say without hesitation that in 
breeding for Mottles of any colour (our experience has been chiefly in Blacks, but we have seen 
enough fully to satisfy us the rule is general) one of the hardest things is to get them entirely free 
from this foul mark. Such a blaze, if of any size, cannot even be removed by trimming ; and 
even when slight, though it can be removed so as to look respectable to careless inspection, the 
plucking of even such few feathers in so conspicuous a place can easily be detected. We are not 
going too far in saying that, at present, when prizes are given to Mottles, the signs of such 
trimming can be detected in the great majority of cases; and the scarcity of feather in front of the 
head is generally attributed to the birds having “ moulted late in the season,” whereas it would be 
nearer the truth to say they had moulted so remarkably “late” as the day before the show. Some 
cut the feathers off at the root, so as to save trouble all the season, but the moulting season brings 
back the foul feathers. In the case of Blacks, some exhibitors, who seem to think it wrong to pluck 
away the offending blaze, prefer to blacketi the foul patch. For this purpose one man prefers a 
little oil mixed with black varnish ; another, grease burnt over a candle ; another, Indian ink ; and 
others, lamp-black mixed with oil, while some use caustic ; but this latter does not become a good 
black, and grease has to be used as well to make it black. A very clean white handkerchief 
judiciously employed will detect most of these frauds, and they can only be attempted with 
the Black Mottle; for even were Reds and Yellows plentiful enough to exercise the ingenuity 
of these clever people, nothing, so far as we know — and we think we should have heard of 
it — has yet been discovered which will successfully imitate the colour of red and yellow pigeons. 
Honest people need no such provocatives to careful breeding; but we state these things so that 
even those fanciers who by no means stick at trifles may see the absolute necessity of avoiding this 
grave fault, which is so surely hereditary as to give infinite trouble to get rid of, if birds are once 
bred from which possess it. We would far prefer a bird perfectly free from white on the 
front of the head, even if it present very little indication of the marking desired on the body, since 
this latter can be improved and bred up to what is desired with far more ease than the blaze can 
be got rid of. 
In supposing a Red Agate Mottle cock for the match here spoken of, we need hardly say that 
if a real Red Mottle itself can be had it will be all the better ; and, in either case, the nearer the 
bird is to the desired marking on the shoulder the less trouble will there be in breeding what is 
sought. If a cock and hen, such as we have described, can be obtained and matched, there is a 
very fair prospect of obtaining something not a long way off the mark the very first season. Cer- 
tainty of course there can be none; indeed, uncertain as is the breeding of Almonds, the breeding 
for Mottles is if possible still more so, and we advise no one to commence such a task unless he has 
patience to persevere through the many vexations and disappointments which he will certainly 
meet with. There is one thing in his favour : Red and Red Agate hens, especially if of a good 
size, are usually good breeders. But now to return to the progeny of such a match as we have 
