C O L U M B A. 
824. 
turaj parents. There are a great variety of feathers in 
this fancy-pigeon, and the Dutch are careful in the breed 
of them ; for when they are fed off their foft meat, they 
place the young ones under more tender nurfes, and then 
•put the old ones in different coops for a month, feeding 
them with hemp or rape feed, which foon makes them 
lalacious; and then, turning them together, they breed 
pigeons with very good properties ; but, fince the powter 
has been bred to luch perfection, the cropper is but lightly 
elteemed in England. 
The PovVting Horseman. —This is what fanciers 
term a mongrel pigeon, produced between the horfeman 
and cropper; and, agreeable to the number of times their 
young ones are croffed over by the cropper, they have 
the appellation of firlt, fecond, or third, breed, and the 
more frequently this method is pra&ifed, the greater is the 
improvement the crop receives from it. This breed of 
fancy-pigeons was formerly much encouraged, in order 
to improve the ftrain of the powter, by making them clofe 
thighed; but, fince the ftrain of powters is brought to 
perfection, that practice is difcontinued. They are a 
lively pigeon, very aCtive, and, by frequently dafhing off 
in flight, are excellent decoys for ltray pigeons. They 
are fertile breeders, and good nurfes, always taking care 
of their young. Some of tliefe pigeons meafure fix inches 
and a half in legs only ; they are a fpirited bird, and, if 
well fupplied with food, will give very little trouble. 
There are inftances of this bird’s coming home at twenty 
miles diltance. 
The Up lope R. —This is a native of Holland, and near¬ 
ly refeinbles the Englifh powter in its properties, but is 
fmaller; it has a very round crop, in which it commonly 
hides its bill; it has fmall flender legs, with toes Ihort 
and clofe together, on which it trips fo exactly when 
walking, as to leave the ball of the loot quite hollow ; it 
plays very upright, is clofe-thighed; and it is the cuftom 
of this pigeon on approaching the hen, to leap to her 
with its tail Ipread; from hence the name uploper is de¬ 
rived, from the Dutch uplopen, to leap up. It is a great 
rarity to fee any of thefe pigeons pied, being generally 
either all white, all black, or blue. Since the Englilh 
powter has become fuch a favourite, there is little en¬ 
couragement to the breed of this pigeon; though in Hol¬ 
land fome of thefe pigeons have been fold for twenty-five 
guineas a pair. 
The Parisian Powter. —This bird, brought into 
Enland from Brulfels, is originally a native of Paris; it 
partakes of the fame properties as the Englilh powter, 
though it is not fo well made; its body and legs are llxort; 
it has generally a long, but not a large, crop, and is thick 
in the girt. It is greatly admired for its plumage, which 
•is very elegant, and peculiar to this fpecies only; every 
feather being llreaked with a variety of colours, the flight 
excepted, which is white ; the more red this bird has in- 
terlperfed with its other colours, the greater is the value 
let upon it; they are generally bull-eyed, or gravel-eyed, 
but it is a matter of indifference amonglt the fanciers. 
The Carrier. —The carrier fancy-pigeon is larger than 
vnoif of the common forts, fome of them mealuring from 
the apex of the beak to the end of the tail fifteen inches, 
and weigh nineteen or twenty ounces. Their feathers lie 
very dole, even, and fmooth ; their flelh is naturally firm, 
and their necks long and Ifraight, lo that when they Itand 
upright they Ihew an elegant fhape, far exceeding molt 
other pigeons. From the lower part of the head to the 
middle of the upper chap, there grows a white, naked, 
fungous flelh, which is called the wattle, and is generally 
met by two fmall protuberances of the fame kind, riling 
on each fide of the under mandible; this flelh is always 
molt valued when of a bla'clcifh colour. The circle round 
the black pupil of the eye is commonly of a red brick- 
duft colour, though they are more elteemed when of a 
fiery red ; the eyes are alfo encompafied with the fame 
l'ort of naked membrane, which is very thin, generally of 
the breadth of a ftiilling, and the broader this lpreads, the 
greater is the value fet upon them. When this mem¬ 
brane round the. eye is thick and broad, it denotes the 
carrier to be a good breeder, and one that will rear very 
fine young ones. The breeders of fancy-pigeons are una¬ 
nimous in giving this bird the title of “ the king of the 
pigeons,” on account of its graceful appearance and un¬ 
common fagacity. They alfo attribute to the carrier the 
following twelve properties: three in the head, three in 
the eye, three in the wattle, and three in the beak. The 
properties of the head confilt in its flatnefs, ftraig'ntnefs, 
and length ; for inltance, when a carrier has a very flat 
lkull, a little indented in the middle, with a long narrow 
head, it is greatly admired ; and if the reverie, it is termed 
barrel-headed. The eye of the carrier lhould be broad, 
circular, and of an uniform appearance, for if one part of 
the eye appears to be thinner than the other, it is a great 
imperfedtion, and is called pinch-eyed ; but when the eye 
is equal and full, and free from irregularities, it is a rote- 
eye, and is very valuable. The wattle lhould be broad 
acrols the beak, Ihort from the head towards the point of 
the bill, and leaning a little forward from the head; for 
if it lies flat, it is in great difrepute, and is laid to be peg- 
wattled. This has cauled fome artful people, in order to 
impofe upon the lefs knowing, and increafe the price of 
an imperfect bird, to artfully raife the hinder part of the 
wattle, fill it up with cork, and bind it in with fine wire, 
in fo neat a manner as not to he ealily detedted, particu¬ 
larly by thofe who are unlkilled in the breed of fancy- 
birds. The beak of the carrier lhould be long, ltraight, 
and thick : the lfraightnefs of the bill is a great addition 
to its length, and if it is the lealt out of lhape in this re- 
fpedt, it is termed hook-beaked, and is lightly elteemed. 
It lhould alfo be thick, and of a black colour, which is a 
great recommendation ; but, when it falls Ihort in this 
particular, it is called l'pindle-beaked, which decreafes its 
value. The length and thinnefs of its neck are fo emi¬ 
nent a mark of its elegance, as not to be palled over in 
Clence; fome call this a property,-and, indeed, it greatly 
increafes the beauty of this broad-chelted bird, and more 
efpecially fo when the pigeon carries his head rather back¬ 
ward, as it Ihews itfelf to great advantage. The plumage 
is generally either dun or black, though there are whites, 
blues, and pieds, of each feather: the dun and black 
agree bell with the above-defcribed properties; yet the 
blues and blue pieds, being very fcarce, are great rarities, 
confequently of great value. 
This kind of fancy-pigeon was originally bred at Baf- 
fora, an ancient city of Perfia, and from thence tranfmit- 
ted to Europe : they got the name of carriers, from hav¬ 
ing been uled to convey intelligence by letters, from one 
place to another. Thefe birds are firlt taken from the 
place where they were bred, to the place from whence 
they are to return with intelligence; and the defire of 
food, or, of being with their young, are the incitements 
whicil impel their fwift return. The letter, which lhould 
he on thin paper, muff be gently tied round the body, in 
fuch a manner as not to incommode the bird’s flight; or 
if the note be fmall, it may be tied to the leg; and the 
bird is then fet at liberty to return. The winged mef- 
fenger no fooner finds itlelf at large, than its love for its 
progeny and native home influences all its motions. It 
immediately rifes to an almolt imperceptible height, and 
then, with great certainty and exadtneis, darts itlelf by 
fome unknown intuitive principle towards its native fpot, 
which is frequently at the diftance of many miles, bring¬ 
ing its meflage home to the perfon where it was bred, by 
what means they difcover the place, or by what compafs 
they are conducted in the right way, is equally myiterious 
and unknown, but it has been proved, by experiment, 
that they will perform a journey of forty miles in the fpace 
of one hour and a half; a degree of difpatch three times 
quicker than the fvyifteft four-footed animal can perform. 
This method of fending difpatches was formerly in great 
vogue in the eaft; and at Scancleroon till very lately, as 
Dr. Ruflell informs us. It was commonly ufed there on 
the 
