CHAPTER XII. 
COMMON AND FLYING TUMBLERS. 
There can be little doubt that the whole class of pigeons known as Tumblers originally derived 
the name from their habit of turning a somersault backwards during flight, and that even the 
Short-faces were bred from these. Eaton himself states that he had seen Short-faced Almonds 
tumble very well, and even at the present day, though not common, it is not so very rare to see 
a large and coarse Almond give an occasional tumble, showing that the tendency, though it has 
long ceased to be bred for, is not even yet quite obliterated. Even among the long-faced 01 
pleasant-faced birds, however, the propensity is not universal, many common Tumblers nevei 
tumbling at all. On the other hand, a good Tumbler is very apt to transmit the propensity to its 
progeny, even though its mate be not a tumbling bird. 
Among the prettiest of the Common Tumblers are the Mottle, Baldhead, and Beard. The 
markings of these birds should be exactly the same as in the Short-faces, except that the Mottle 
is more commonly found without the handkerchief back ; hence our plates of these birds, if long 
or pleasant faces be supposed, will sufficiently represent them. No bird looks prettier in 
the air than the Baldhead. In some birds the faculty of tumbling backwards is so developed that 
they cannot fly a yard from the floor without turning over, and knowing this, will sit for hours on 
any projecting point they have attained, as if they dreaded to leave it lest they should tumble to 
the floor and hurt themselves, as indeed they sometimes do. Birds which thus tumble in a very 
small space, or on rising from the floor, are called “inside” or “house” Tumblers, and the 
perfection of this kind of performance is for the bird to spring up only a few inches, and turning 
a quick and clean somersault backwards, alight again upon its feet. There are other birds that 
tumble many times whilst flying round the loft or aviary, good performers repeating their peculiar 
movement as often as forty or fifty times in a minute, after which they appear exhausted, and 
generally take a rest. Others again — and this class of bird is admired by some — make a single 
somersault every yard or two whilst flying, and scarcely dropping even an inch while doing so, 
but turning over so quickly as almost to defy observation, and going on as if nothing had 
happened. 
Besides these good performers, there are birds which have the propensity, but cannot tumble 
properly, merely stopping in their flight and falling backwards. These are called bad tumblers, 
and many young birds which afterwards learn to tumble well fail in this way at first, as if from 
want of courage to turn vigorously enough. In such cases it often helps a young bird to either 
shorten its tail feathers, or pluck a few from the centre, so as to diminish the resistance ; when 
the next time the attempt is made the bird may probably go over, and hence learn to be a good 
Tumbler. 
The propensity appears to us to be either partly voluntary and partly involuntary, or to 
depend partly upon some special excitement of the nervous system, since even good Tumblers will 
fly for miles without tumbling if frightened, or even if from home. We have seen this several 
