JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
416 
[ May 18, 1882. 
Asiatic breeds were generally dispersed, in our opinion much to 
the detriment of barndoor stock, excellent hens such as Aldro- 
vandi describes. We must not, however, forget that then, or not 
long before, the pure white breed of Polish were in existence, 
from which they might have been descended. It is barely five 
years since in a farmyard in a remote part of Lombardy we saw a 
large stock of fine pure white fowls with small crests. 
Dixon, too, writing in 1850 believed the lark-crested breed to 
be distinct from the Polish. He says, “The first of whatever 
colour is of a peculiar taper form inclining forwards, as Aldro- 
vandi’s old-fashioned woodcut well represents, with a moderate 
depressed backward-directed crest, and deficient in the neatness 
of the legs and feet so conspicuous in the Polands ; the latter are 
of more upright carriage and more squarely built frame. Set the 
two side by side, and their discrepancy will be apparent. I 
would distinguish the dark-crested from the Polish fowls by the 
former having an occipital crest, the latter more of a frontal 
one.” Whether this lark-crested breed anywhere survives now 
we cannot say, but we are inclined to think it does, and should 
certainly advise its preservation if it can be found, remembering 
the good qualities of the crested hens we possessed in childhood. 
A quarter of a century ago the only tufted fowls known in 
England were this lark-crested race and several varieties of 
Polish. Since then tufted French breeds have been introduced 
and become popular, and we have the magnificent Craves and 
the useful hardy Houdans. It is not uninteresting to a lover of 
poultry to observe the birds portrayed in old pictures. Those in 
most old Dutch pictures resemble Houdans in comb, with small 
crests, and generally an admixture of some red or brown feathers. 
We have little doubt but that the tufted French breeds and all 
those varieties known in England as Polish are descended from 
one stock. All are good layers, and all are, as a rule, non-sitters. 
How “ Polanders,” as they were formerly, or “ Polish ” as they 
are now called in England, got this name it is idle to inquire. 
The French call the White-crested Black variety Dutch, and all 
the others Paduan fowls. Thus much only we know, that as a 
rule the large-combed breeds have thriven in the south, the large- 
tufted in the more northern parts of Europe. 
Tufted fowls, as a rule, do not lay quite such large eggs as the 
fowls of the Mediterranean, but they lay a great many of them, 
and are preferable as table fowls. We always try to combine 
beauty and utility in our poultry, and so will in a future paper 
give a short description both of the appearance and qualities of 
the various tufted sub-varieties, that our readers may suit their 
own tastes.—C. 
(To be continued.) 
AN OLD FANCY PIGEON REVIVED. 
THE NORWICH CROPPER; 
When I was a small boy, about forty years ago, I was as ardent 
a fancier of Pigeons as at any period of my life since; perhaps 
even more ardent, as all was new to me, all the beautiful variety of 
form and feather in these taking birds. Then I lived next door to 
an old fancier, and knew many others. I have all my life been 
blessed with a tenacious memory, particularly perhaps in regard to 
pets, having as clear a recollection of a pet pony, or dog, or cat, or 
Rabbit, or Pigeon which I had when a schoolboy as if I had seen it 
last year only. This gift of an accurate memory for things seen 
and known in boyhood is, I believe, not unusual; thus I find 
the late Lord Campbell writing—“ I visited my brother in Fife, and 
saw with great interest the scenes of my childhood. I was particu¬ 
larly struck with a small footbridge across the Swilkin Burn at 
St. Andrews, which stands exactly as I had left it about half a cen¬ 
tury ago. I remembered every stone of this little arch as well as I 
did the ruins of the cathedral, or St. Regulus’s Tower.” I have a 
like memory. I can see before me now the Pigeons I kept or others 
kept when I was a lad; I see their forms, their colours, and their 
marking*. 
But to my present purpose. I distinctly remember that there were 
two varieties of pouting Pigeons kept by fanciers. The more 
humble class called theirs Croppers, but those tradesmen who, at 
stated periods of the year, visited London brought back with them a 
higher class of pouting Pigeon which they always called Pouters, 
resenting the term Cropper if applied to their pets. The Pouters 
proper were exactly what are now exhibited at the Crystal Palace 
and other shows, only smaller. There were Black Pied, Yellow 
Pied, Red Pied, and White. There might have been, and no doubt 
were, Blue Pied to be had, but probably because the Croppers were 
all of that colour or nearly all, the Pouter fanciers did not care for 
such birds. There were also plenty of Mealies. I have said these 
Pouters were like those now exhibited, only smaller. Many, par¬ 
ticularly the Black Pied, were beautifully and correctly marked ; legs 
perfectly covered with feathers, wings with the pleasing rose pinion. 
Better marked and better shaped than the average Pouters of the 
present day, as all crossing of colours was forbidden; they were 
pleasing slender birds, but very small as Pouters now are. They 
had a refined and delicate look and would not rear their young. 
These birds I now leave to speak of the commoner Croppers. In 
colour they were chiefly blue and blue-chequer, many being of the 
latter colour, with a few whites with dark tails and a few dark 
feathers on their heads. Next, other characteristics : the Croppers 
were very tame, most amusingly and impudently so; they were 
also capital fliers, always in motion, always in show, speeding off 
with a low peculiar sailing flight, and soon back to their homes, of 
which none were more suitable than an outhouse, with some open 
rabbit hutches, to which outhouse access was given the birds through 
an open window. Pounce they came when one entered the build¬ 
ing, and flew to their boxes and stood ready for petting and combat. 
But next, as to size and shape of these Croppers. They were small 
but robust, a few feathers only on their legs, a good many blues kite- 
barred, and many, particularly Chequers, would come without the 
white half moon on their crops. Many were excellent breeders, and 
all were very cheap, within any artisan’s or schoolboy’s pocket. 
I knew them at Cambridge, Peterborough, Wisbech, Whittlesea, 
and other towns in the Fens and east of England, and I knew that 
some came from Norwich. They and fanciers were rather looked 
down upon by the richer and London-supplied men. Years rolled on 
and I quite lost sight of my old friends the Croppers ; probably, so it 
seems, from my having left the east of England as a youth, and 
having lived chiefly in the south or west of England ever since, 
and their never being exhibited. Last year, however, I met with a 
copy of Lyell’s “Fancy Pigeons,” and found a chapter of nine 
pages devoted to the kind of bird I am writing of, and entitled by Mr. 
Lyell, “the Norwich Cropper,” with two illustrations. This pleased 
me very much, and I procured some birds of this, to me, revived 
fancy Pigeon. The best and cheapest birds I had straight from 
Norwich. After a year’s experience I now wish to speak of these 
Norwich Croppers. 
I am convinced that they are the Uplopers of Moore and the early 
writers, with all the peculiarities of a pure breed. Moore says of 
this Pigeon—“The Uploper is a Pigeon bred originally in Holland. 
Its make and shape agrees in every respect with the English Pouter, 
only it is smaller in every property. Its crop is very round, in 
which it generally buries its bill; its legs are very small and slender, 
and its toes are short and close together, on which it treads so 
nicely, that when moving you may put anything under the ball of 
its foot; it is close-thighed, plays very upright, and when it 
approaches the hen generally leaps to her with its tail spread, which 
is the reason the name is given to it, from the Dutch word uplopen , 
which signifies to leap up. These Pigeons are generally all blue, 
white, or black, though I will not assert there are no pieds of this 
species.” I will remark on this that the east of England was very 
much peopled from Holland and Belgium—that Flemish names still 
exist; that a fenman used to say his boy out with a leaping pole 
to cross the fen drains with, “ was loopen about somewhere.” 
Mayor adds little or nothing to this account, save that “ there 
possibly may be some of them pied.” Girton says, “ It is a great 
rarity to see any of these Pigeons pied, they being almost always 
either all white, black or blue.” So much for the last-century 
Pigeon writers. I will next refer to more modern authorities.— 
Wiltshire Rector. 
(To be continued.) 
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Camden Square, London. 
Lat. 51° 32' 40" N.; Long. 0° 8' 0" W.; Altitude, 111 feet. 
hate. 
9 A.M. 
IN THE DAT. 
1882. 
O ?! r-l 
d CO <V <D 
Hygrome¬ 
ter. 
P . 
O'P 
+-> p 
Temp, of 
Soil at 
1 foot. 
Shade Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperature. 
[lain. 
May. 
J® fe rt 1 - 1 
Dry. 
Wet. 
5o 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
sun. 
On 
grass. 
Snn. 7 
Inches. 
29.987 
deg. 
55.2 
deg. 
49.7 
N.W. 
deg. 
52.0 
deg. 
6.5.2 
deg. 
44.3 
deg 
112.3 
deg. 
40.9 
In. 
Mon. 8 
30.037 
52.6 
48.3 
N.W. 
52.2 
61.3 
41.9 
112.1 
35.2 
_ . 
Tues. 9 
30.443 
49.4 
43.3 
N.N.W. 
52.0 
6L.2 
38.3 
99.2 
32.8 
_ 
Wed. 10 
30.368 
57.6 
54.0 
N.W. 
52.3 
68.2 
49.5 
123.0 
47.7 
_ 
Tliurs. 11 
30.336 
59.5 
55.6 
N.N.W. 
53.3 
70.7 
46.9 
102.5 
39.9 
_ . 
Friday 12 
30.248 
59.4 
52.8 
N. 
54.0 
683 
48.6 
118.6 
42.5 
_ 
Satur. 13 
30.362 
57.7 
48.7 
N.E. 
55.0 
69.3 
38.8 
113.4 
34.7 
— 
30.254 
55.9 
50.3 
53.0 
66.3 
43.9 
111.6 
39.1 
— 
REMARKS. 
7th.—Bright and warm, though occasionally dull and heavy-looking ; light- 
8th.—Fine and bright, much wind and dust. [Ding from 9.30 p.M. 
9th.—Fine, bright, cool. 
10th.—Hull at first, afterwards very fine, with bright sunshine and warm. 
11th.—Cloudy in early morning, afterwards fine, bright, and warm. 
12th.—Fine and bright. 
13th.—Fine and bright. 
High barometer, temperature above the average, northerly winds and no 
rain.—G. J. STMONS. 
