174 
The Illustrated Book of Plgeons. 
will tend to produce good-coloured Blue hens. If, however, the produce was not to our satisfaction, 
we would select one of the young hens — Blue or Silver — and breed to the father ; when any Blues 
produced would be almost sure to be of good colour. In this way the Blue can be improved, but 
there is a risk as to the colour of the bars, which are apt to be Kite or Mealy-coloured ; still, we 
would risk this to get the colour on the body, since a Blue-chequer cock mated to one of these 
Silver-bred faulty-barred hens will generally improve the colour of the bars, and the result is often 
a bird good all over. Another mode is to breed a Blue cock to a Silver hen, the darker the bars 
on the hen the better, as it is in the Silver bird’s bars the danger lies. In this cross the cock 
should be as dark a Blue as possible, as if light in colour the progeny may very likely be Silver, 
and few fanciers breed for these if they can get Blues, unless for variety’s sake. They are also 
useful, as we have seen, to keep up the purity of the Blues, and likewise to get clean thighs and a 
high number in flights ; in fact, any shortness of flights or foulness of thigh in Blues is always best 
remedied by crossing with Silver. In brief, the Silver Baldhead stands to the Blue in much the 
same relation as the Mealy Pouter to the standard Blue-pied. 
Next is the Black, which is and always was the rarest colour, and most difficult to breed fully 
up to the properties ; all partially black pigeons, from the depth of colour in the blood, being 
particularly liable to foul feather. Not only so, but the strong contrast makes every trifling fault 
or foul mark so striking, that a single foul feather in a Black is seen at once. We have seen few of 
this colour we could term good, and regret it, as, from the striking contrast, it is to our fancy the 
prettiest colour of any ; but, in spite of the vast increase of pigeon-fanciers during late years, we 
are sorry to see that the race who seemed to find pleasure in vanquishing the greatest difficulties 
by skill and patience seems almost extinct, most breeders being satisfied with keeping up varieties 
which have already been all but perfected to their hands. We are sure good birds would be valued, 
and have not the slightest hesitation in saying that we would cheerfully give a larger sum for a pair 
of really good Short-faced Black Balds than for the best pair of Almonds we ever knew of ; and 
by “good ” we mean no more than we have often seen, and even possessed, in the Blues. 
We can add little as to breeding Blacks, there being so few birds of this colour. We can only 
say that, if we could procure a cock of good colour and well cut, but not good in Short-faced 
properties, we should be inclined to cross him with a dark-coloured Kite hen, for the purpose of 
improving these points, and on the chance of getting even one or two resembling the Bald in 
markings ; and if we could in this way get a hen anything near the mark, we would mate her with 
the father, in order to improve the Baldhead properties. If this failed, we would cross the Black 
cock with a light-coloured Silver hen, by which there would no doubt be bred lots of bad colours ; 
but if one hen came Black, or even better, perhaps, Dun, we would in either case match her with 
the father. This plan, followed up with judgment, would, in our opinion, produce really good 
Blacks. If even this match could not be got (and it is not easy always to find a Bald hen good 
enough in head and beak properties), we would try breeding the Bald cock to a wholly Black hen, 
no matter if Mottle-bred, * adopting afterwards the same plan of matching next season the old 
Bald cock to the most promising of the young hens. We hardly need say that, in this case, the 
matching also of a young cock to the mother would be useless, since, the young bird having only 
half Bald blood and the old one none, no good could result, except by some extraordinary chance. 
If, however, there were more than one young hen at all promising, we would by all means, if 
possible, get another Bald cock to breed also with her. 
* While very unwilling to suggest anything not according to Mr. Fulton’s great experience, we should be inclined to prefer 4 
Black Mottle herself, if we could get one ; because, in our opinion, the tendency to blaze on the face t it not accompanied by tod 
much white on the body, would facilitate the breeding back to Baldhead properties. — Ed. 
