246 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
The mane and chain must be considered together. The former, as we have seen, is a modern 
“ finish ” to the bird, and formerly, no doubt, the parting of the neck and shoulder feathers, one 
part growing forwards in continuation of the hood, and forming a kind of ruffle irresistibly remind- 
ing the beholder of certain Elizabethan costumes, and the other pointing backwards, was all that 
was required. It is scarcely or ever that a bird with good head and hood fails in “ chain,” which 
is now understood to denote the front portion of the parted feather. The perfection of this chain 
is, first, to come as low down the shoulders as possible, some small specimens leaving off with it 
little more than half-way down the neck ; and secondly, for the feathers to be so long and so 
forward in their set, that the two sides meet together in front, from almost directly under the throat 
all down to the bottom. This can hardly be if the chain feather is either short or deficient in 
“ set.” Again, it must not only be so, but to make a first-class bird must be even on each side, 
and so well filled up and regular in growth as to show a tolerably smooth and even edge, free 
from gaps or raggedness. When all is tolerably perfect, the effect is as if the head were closely 
encased in the hood and upper portion of the chain, which meets under the chin, and the apparent 
breadth or thickness of the neck, chain and all, when viewed in front, will not exceed one inch. 
Faulty birds, on the contrary, and especially some of the long-headed ones, either from the chain 
feathers being too short (which is the usual reason in very small birds) or not well set forward, 
show an open space down the breast between the two sides of the chain. Of course we do not 
mean that even a good bird never shows a glimpse of it ; still the feathers should about meet, while 
the faulty ones will show a gap of an inch or more. To remedy this many cut or pluck some of 
the inside feathers, which allows the chain to meet closer ; and according to Moore, some of the 
old fanciers used even to cut out a strip of skin down the centre of the breast between the two 
sides of the chain, and then stitch the edges of the wound together, which of course would diaw 
the chain closer together ; but we much doubt if this ever met with much success, since the effect 
of the scar “drawing” would almost certainly be to make the chain very ragged, crooked, and 
Fig. 54. — Perfect Head, Hood, Mane, and Chain. 
