TiiE Illustrated Book of Pi aeons. 
328 
large tails are not only very valuable, but necessary at times in the breeding-loft. On the other 
hand, I dislike very small Fantails, first, because they are always deficient in tail ; secondly, 
because they are, as a rule, utterly devoid of stamina and constitution, the least attack of illness 
proving fatal ; and, thirdly, because almost as often they are useless as breeders. I therefore 
prefer a moderately small Fantail, small enough to show off the gracefully curving outlines of the 
‘ Shaker' (as the old fanciers called this pigeon) to the best advantage, but large enough to carry a 
tail sufficiently wide and flat to deserve its other name of ‘ The Fantail .’ 
“In describing the shape let us begin with the foundation — the feet. They should be small 
and neat. Large feet are nearly always correlative with a large head and long beak. The legs 
should be moderately short ; if too short they cause their possessor to waddle rather than walk, 
and the mincing tip-toe strut peculiar to the high-bred Fantail is lost. On the other hand, nothing 
can be worse or more .ugly than long spindly shanks. They almost invariably accompany a long 
tall body and long back ; and even when they do not, they are out of character with the general 
shape of the Fantail, which should be round and compact. They should also be bright red, clean, 
and free from feather. Though here again we should remember that the Indian Fantails, with 
which I fancy all our best English strains (and I believe the Scotch as well) have been crossed, 
often had feathered legs, as well as the turn-crown. Feather on the legs, as a consequence, will 
appear at times even in the best strains ; and, knowing whence it comes, and that it does not point 
to any bad blood, if it does not amount to more than a few small downy feathers on the shanks, I 
do not think any the worse of the bird. 
“ The body should be very short and very compact ; the breast very wide, thrown up as high 
as the bird can raise it, and therefore very prominent — in fact, a good bird, when looked at from 
the front, seems to be all breast, the head being quite out of sight. The back should be short. In 
some of the flattest-tailed English Fans it seems to have vanished altogether, the tail appearing 
to spring from the base of the hackle. Such birds, however, often pitch the tail too forward — too 
much in the ‘ pot-lid style,’ which our Scotch friends laugh at so often, and accuse us, though 
unjustly, of considering to be the right thing. I therefore think that a little more length than 
this is desirable. I do not mean a long back, for that is one of the worst faults a Fantail can 
have — in fact, it quite destroys the character of the bird. In the English breed the back is 
of fair width at the setting on of the tail, which, in my opinion, allows of a larger tail, and also 
gives more power of carrying it properly. In the Scotch bird, however, the back runs off very 
fine and narrow, like that of a Game cock, which I cannot help thinking is one cause not only 
of the want of size in the tail, but also of its being so often carried crooked. 
“ The neck should be swan-like — long, thin, especially at the setting on of the head, and nicely 
arched at the same point ; the head, remarkably small and fine ; the beak, short and neat ; the 
beak-wattle, very small, and covered with a white powder ; the eye, dark hazel, with a peculiarly 
soft, trustful expression, very different from the wild look of the Owl or Antwerp. 
“ The Crested Fantails (the result of some previous cross with the Indian) have quite gone out 
of fashion, and, I think, rightly so, for the turn-crown certainly detracts from the elegance and 
slimness of the head and neck ; but still they are usually good in other points, especially in tail, 
and therefore, though not often seen now in the show-pen, they may be very valuable in the 
breeding-loft. 
“ The carriage of the head and neck is of the greatest importance. The head should be 
thrown completely back, and dropped 1 veil down, so much so that the back of the head rests upon 
the bird’s back just at the base of the tail. This is where English Fans almost always fail. No 
matter how long and fine the neck is, if it is stuck aloft, like a Peacock’s, all the grace and elegance 
