C O L U M B A. 
alofy in the air, in fine clear weather, the contrail of the 
feather (hews, if the, didance is not too great, and they 
make a very plea ling appearance ; but the blue ones have 
gained the greateft reputation for their lofty flight. There 
are aifo fome called black or blue-bearded, that is, when 
either of thofe colours are ornamented with a long da(h of 
•white, reaching from the under mandible and cheek, a 
little way down the throat: when this is well (haped, and 
they are clean in the flight and tail, they are elteemed 
very handfome birds. 
To raile a flight of tumblers, they fhould be kept in a 
loft by themfelves, and not be fulfered to have any con¬ 
nexion with other pigeons; for if they are once familiar¬ 
ized to fly with others, they will by degrees drop their own 
flight, when they perceive their company fcaling in the air be¬ 
neath them ; and by this means lofe one of their molt valu¬ 
able qualities. No expence Ihould be fpared in the purchafe 
of one or two birds that have been ufed to lofty flying; 
for they will be of infinite fervice in training the young 
ones to foar aloft. When the pigeons are'well acquainted 
with their habitation, turn themloofe, and put them upon 
the wing once a-day only, and that without any other com¬ 
pany ; a clear morning, efpecially for young birds, is the 
propereft time; when after having exercifed themfelves, 
and are coming down, drew a little hemp feed, or rape 
and canary, to invite them in, and then confine them for 
the reft of the day. According to the obfervations of 
fome breeders, there are particular times when a tumbler 
will take a more extraordinary flight than uiual, as when 
Ihe (its upon eggs, and a Ihort time after having fed off 
her loft meat; and, although there is no fpecific realon 
to be afligned for this, yet it has been repeatedly confirm¬ 
ed by occular demonftration. When crows, fwallows, or 
other birds, are feen wantonly {porting at a vaft height in 
the air, is another time when tumblers will make a very 
extravagant flight, both for height and length uf time; 
but this may be readily accounted for, there being always 
at fuch a time fomething predominant in the temperament 
of the air, agreeable to the genius of thole birds that take 
pleafure in the upper regions oi the atmofphere. The 
fancier fliould never let loofe his tumblers on a mifty 
morning, or when there appears the lead fign of a riling 
log ; for by thefe means they are deprived of the fight of 
their habitation, and many a good flight are broke and 
loft. High winds, are alfo detrimental to a flight of pi¬ 
geons, by forcing them too far from home, and caufing 
them to llav out all night, fo that, if they are not -quite 
loll, they are expofed to various accidents. 
The Almond Tumbler.— This fancy bird is by fome 
called the earmine tumbler, though it is generally known, 
and called by the name of the almond tumbler, but for 
what reafon the mod experienced fanciers are at a lofs to 
explain. It is a very beautiful and valuable fpecies, and 
derived its origin from the common tumblers, by being 
judicioufly matched fo as to fort the feather, viz. yellows, 
duns, whites, blacks, black-grizzled, black-fplafhed, &c. 
but, as thefe require a length of time, they are not attain¬ 
able without patience and long perfeverance ; however 
when they are brought to perfection, they are efteemed the 
greateft curiofity in the whole breed of pigeons. Though 
the ancient fanciers gave the title of king of the pigeons to 
the aarrier, yet fo great a favourite is the almond tumbler 
with tl,ie moderns, that many of them are for transferring 
the title to the latter, on account of the fuperior beauty 
of its plumage. It requires good judgment and nice ob- 
fervation to be acquainted with the true qualities and 
perfections of the tumbler fpecies; their charming variety 
of feather certainly exceeds every other of the fancy pi¬ 
geon tribe. Some of thefe birds are fo magnificently ele¬ 
gant in their plumage, that the rump, -tail, back, and 
wings, have been compared to a bed of the fined and bed 
broken tulips, or to a piece of the higheft polifhed Egyp¬ 
tian marble; for the more they are variegated in the wing 
and tail, efpecially if the ground be yeliow, the greater is 
the value let upon them. Thofe of a fine bright yellow 
ground have always the precedence of other colours, it! 
being the hardelt to acquire. To be complete in feather, 
the rump, back, and bread, mud be variegated, and the 
wings not barred. There are fome of thefe pigeons cu- 
rioufly intermixed with the three colours only, that tom- 
polg the earmine or almond, as yellow, white, and black; 
but thefe are very fcarce. The almond tumbler never ar- 
rive’s-at its full beauty of feather till it has moulted Icve- 
ral times; and what is remarkable, it increafes in beauty 
every year; but in the decline of life, when very old, it 
changes to a mottled, fplafhed, or fome other colour. 
Some fanciers pair a yellow, a fplafhed, or black grizzle,, 
with an almond, and by that means lay a good founda¬ 
tion to heightenthe colours; thofe of a ddack colour bred 
from almonds, are generally better firiped in the beak and 
head than the almonds themfelves, and the tail and wings 
have frequently a ftrong glow of yellow ; this colour pair¬ 
ed with an almond promifes to produce a fine bird. They 
often breed a pale yellow, or bud’, and this colour is very 
proper to match with fuch as.are too high grounded ; and 
the lei's afh-colour or blue they have, the better; but 
fometimes a flight mixture of thefe colours will fliew, even, 
when they have been mod carefully bred. Thofe that 
are afh-coloured are lightly edeemed. 
The Lechor n Runt. —This, though fo oddly named, 
is a noble large full bodied pigeon, dole feathered, fliort 
in the back, very broad chelted, and frequently mealures 
(even inches and a quarter in the length of its legs; when 
it walks it carries its tail raifed up in the nature of a 
duck’s, but hangs it down when he plays. It is goofe- 
headed and hollow-eyed, with a longer neck than any 
other pigeon, which it carries bending in the manner 
of a goole ; the eye is encircled with a thin membrane, 
broadei than that of the Dutch tumbler; the beak is very 
fhort, with a fmail wattle ever its noftril, and the upper 
mandible projects a little beyond the under. The Leg¬ 
horn runt is a much hardier bu d than many breeders ima¬ 
gine, but they are bad nurles, and ought not to be dif¬ 
fered to bring up their own young ; therefore it is pro¬ 
per to fhift their eggs under a dragoon, or fome other at¬ 
tentive nuri'e, in the lame mannei as directed for the pow- 
ter, being careful ^o give them a young one of the fame 
fort to take oft' tneir loft meat, and by th.s method they 
will fucceed very well- The genuine breed is at prefent 
very l'carce in this country, and what is remarkable of all 
the different fpecies of runts, is, that they increafe in lize 
-till they are three years old. The pairing of them with 
the Spanilh runt greatly improves the lize of the breed, 
and makes them increafe the falter; fome of this fort 
when brought to table have appeared as large as a pullet. 
One has been killed that weighed two pounds eight ounces 
avoirdupoife. As to their plpmage, they are frequently 
of a grizzled colour, eannined round the neck : but thole 
mod efteemed are either red, white, or black-mottled. 
This fpecies of the runt is of greater value than any other 
kind of runts. It was originally bred at Pifa, in Tufcany, 
and from thence imported into England. 
The Spanish Runt. —This pigeon came originally 
from a fea-port of Spain, whence the name of Spanilh 
runt; it is a ihort, thick-legged, loofe-feathered, bird, 
with a remarkable long body, fome of them meafuring 
twenty-three inches from the apex of the bill to the end 
of the tail ; and it does not carry itfelf fo upright as the 
Leghorn runt. The feathers of this are fo uncertain, and 
of fuch a variety of colours, that a judgment cannot be 
formed of the lort by the colour, though fome of the bed 
are reported to be of a blood-red, or mottled colour. 
This bird being fo very fliort-Jegged, is the caufe of its 
breaking its eggs by lifting too heavy on them in the 
nett; to remedy this misfortune fome put a pair of neat 
chalk or ivory eggs into the ned, and by that means pre¬ 
vent the birds from fitting too heavy on the real eggs. 
The Runt of Friesland. —This is a native of the 
United Provinces. It is fomewhat larger than a middie- 
iized runt; its feathers are all inverted, and ftand the wrong 
■ way; 
