228 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
care in the selecting and matching birds for breeding, the beak showing a great tendency to run 
out long and thin, the eye to lose substance at the back, and skull to lose width. 
“ I will now proceed to give my ideas of the properties of the Barb, and, as a natural 
consequence, commence with the head, which should be broad, square, and massive ; flat across 
the top of the skull ; the beak short, thick, and inclining downwards, forming in profile a 
continuous curve from the front of the head or skull, not appearing as if artificially bent down, but 
with the bottom mandible thick and supporting the upper one. I have seen birds a few years 
ago which had this down - faced appearance in excess, but they looked too much as if they had 
been framed into shape, and did not long retain their position in the fancy, although they created 
a slight sensation when introduced. The beak, in addition to being short and thick, should also 
be wide at the gape ; this almost necessarily insures the head being of good and equal thickness, 
and not falling away or getting narrow towards the lower part of the cheek or chop ; the eye well 
placed in the centre of the side of the head, not sunken, but fairly prominent, and surrounded as 
evenly as possible with an ample wattle of soft, even texture, bright red in colour, standing well 
out from the skull in a fully developed bird. But, although it should be soft and fine in texture, it 
should still have sufficient substance to stand up in its upper circumference without the aid of 
artificial means, which have been sometimes resorted to, such as gumming and stitching. When a 
Barb arrives at such an age as to require these aids, his proper place is the breeding-loft, when his 
owner may do as he pleases, and not the show pen. I am aware that the full properties of a 
good bird are not wholly developed until he has attained a tolerable fulness of years ; but I still 
maintain that when, from old age or want of condition, the upper portion of the eye begins to fall 
over like the ear of a lop-eared rabbit, he is not a pleasant object to look at. A little sponging with 
a zinc or alum lotion, as much for the comfort and cleanliness of the bird as anything else, I hold 
to be perfectly legitimate and allowable. Beyond this we should not go. Small ulcers, which often 
appear inside the bottom lid, may be carefully cut out with a pair of fine sharp scissors. The eye 
itself should be proportionately large and full, of a clear white or pearl colour, although many otherwise 
good birds are bred with red or gravel eyes ; but this detracts very much from the appearance of the 
bird, the contrast between the white eye and red wattle being very pleasing. The beak-wattle 
should be neat and fine in texture, evenly shaped, with the central division clearly defined, and nearly 
white in colour, with a healthy, powdery appearance on its surface, not rough or seedy; in an aged 
bird a little jewing or wattle on the lower mandible appears, and is an improvement. There 
should be no appearance of gullet or dewlap under the beak, the head being neatly and cleanly 
set on to the neck, which should be somewhat fine and thin, especially in hens, at its insertion into 
the head ; of a moderate length, certainly not short, and expanding with a bold graceful curve to 
the shoulders ; this adds much to the carriage and general contour of the bird, while a short, thick 
neck, gives a coarse and heavy expression ; the chest full and prominent, and the breast-bone well 
covered with muscle. The legs should be short, scarcely any thigh being shown below the wings ; 
the lower limb, from the knee to the toes, of a bright carmine red ; the neater and finer the scales 
the better. I do not like a long tail on a Barb, but the flights should be proportionately long, 
reaching quite to the tip of the tail, and carried snugly and compactly, not dragging or drooping, 
which I consider a fault, or sign of ill-health, or want of condition. On the whole, in appearance 
I should describe the Barb as a compact, hearty, gay, debonnaire sort of bird — dear to the heart of 
a fancier, and very taking and attractive to the eye of the general observer. 
“With regard to colour I would now classify them thus: — 1st, Black; 2nd, Yellow; 
3rd, Red ; 4th, Dun. In former days we saw good Whites, but now very rarely. I need hardly 
say that the brighter and purer these colours are the better. We now approach the important 
