330 
The Illustrated Book of Plgeons. 
“ Fantails are healthy, hardy pigeons, unless they are bred unnaturally small. Then, as I 
have already mentioned, they seem to have no constitution ; and their offspring (if they ever 
produce any) are worse than themselves. It is very disheartening, after rearing a nestling of great 
promise, to see that it has almost all the points you want except one, and that is sufficient strength 
and vitality to keep itself alive. They are also very prolific, though many young cocks, if they 
are of very high carriage, are of little use for breeding purposes until they are two or often three 
years old. They are also long-lived. I had a favourite old cock which bred wonderfully for 
fourteen years, and looked then as hearty as ever, but unfortunately his life was cut short by a 
mischievous cat. They require looking after in windy or very wet weather, for their large tails, 
when thoroughly wet, hold so much water, and become so heavy, as to prevent their flying more 
than a few feet. 
“ I draft all my young ones, as soon as they can feed themselves, into a wooden house erected 
for them in a corner of my flower-garden. A hopper of food and a bath stand always ready for 
them on the lawn in front of my dining-room windows, and there they grow and thrive and give 
no trouble. They do no appreciable damage to the garden. They are indeed fond of pecking at 
succulent-leaved plants, such as Mesembryanthemums, Echeverias, Sedums, &c., but they never 
touch anything else, and the little injury they do to these is amply atoned for by the amusement 
they afford as they strut about the lawn. Nothing can be more laughable than to watch a merry 
young cock paying his addresses to the lady of his heart. He trips up to her with dainty steps, 
and, with many a courtly bow and many a sweet-sounding coo, he tells his tale of love ; then, 
drawing himself up to his fullest height, he balances himself upon the extreme tips of his toes; his 
head and neck, quivering and shaking, are jerked so far backwards that he can see nothing in 
front of him, until by gracefully curving his long neck he gets a sly peep at her over his shoulder. 
The sight is apparently too much for his nerves, for he shakes and trembles again in his excite- 
ment, throws himself backwards until the points of his wings rest on the ground and bend beneath 
his weight, and though he would fain go forwards, he is compelled to take a step or two back- 
wards, to save himself from falling over completely. As soon as he can recover himself he 
advances again, and repeats the performance, until he can induce the lady to go with him and 
inspect for herself the abode which he has already chosen for her. 
“ I have said nothing about colour, for I think that the white are infinitely the prettiest, and 
I have not had much experience of the other colours. The white birds ought, of course, to be 
pure white, as white as the driven snow ; and they will keep themselves so throughout the year, if 
they are kept in a clean house, and in a clear atmosphere.” 
The prevailing faults in English Fantails, next to want of carriage and motion, are a too 
large head, coarse beak, and thick neck, without the elegant curve of the Scotch birds. Again, 
the head is usually carried too high, so that a space can be seen between it and the back, though 
we have in our plate shown birds nearly free from this fault, and,, in fact, improved somewhat 
in the direction above suggested. In others the tail, as already said, is carried over the head, 
almost flat on the back ; and such birds, as regards breeding to English style, are a proper 
match for those which show too much of the back, as first described. 
With all the improvement we have mentioned, however, there remains a great difference 
which cannot be altogether shown in plates, since it greatly lies in the tremulous motion , which 
the English bird has little of. Beyond that, however, there are great differences. The Scotch 
bird is small and tight-feathered ; the English nearly half as large again, and much more loose- 
feathered. The Scotch tail is not more than upright ; the English often is. The Scotch head is 
