C O L U M B A; S27 
way; if this pigeon lias its fanciers, it malt be becaufe-it 
is uncommon, and makes a frightful appearance; they 
are at prefent very fcarce in this country. There are fe- 
veral other kinds of runts, as the feather-footed runt of 
Smyrna: it is a middle-fized pigeon, with fo many fea¬ 
thers fprouting from the outfide of its feet, as to have the 
appearance of fmall wings ; fome of thefe feathers mea- 
fure four inches and a half in length ; for this reafon thefe 
birds ought to be kept very dry and clean, or thefe long 
feathers on the feet occafion their dragging their eggs or 
young ones out of their neft. There is alfo the large 
Koman runt, which is fo unwieldy that it can fcarcely fly ; 
likewife the common domeftic runts, which generally com- 
pofe that medley of pigeons kept on purpofe for the table, 
and are fo common in inn-yards and other places as to 
need no defcription ; thefe are good feeders, and make 
very ufeful nurlesforthe fancy pigeons. 
The Trumpeter. —This pigeon is nearly as big as 
a middle-fized runt, and is very like it in fliape and 
make ; its legs and feet are covered with feathers; the 
crown of its head is round like that of the finnikin and 
nun, only it is larger; and the larger the head, the more 
it is efteemed, as being ufually more melodious; it is in 
general pearl-eyed, and black-mottled; but the fureft 
mark to dillinguifh a good trumpeter is the tuft of fea¬ 
thers which fprouts from the root of the beak, and the 
larger this tuft grows, the greater is the value fee upon 
the bird. The more falacious it is, the more it will 
trumpet: it derives its name from its imitating the found 
of a trumpet after playing, which it always does in the 
fpring of the year, when that genial fieafon returns, which 
gives as it were new life and vigour to the whole crea¬ 
tion ; thofe who are fond of hearing it trumpet at other 
times, feed it very high with hemp feed, which makes 
it libidinous, and always has the defired effect. This 
bird, and the enfuing fpecies of pigeons, are by the pi¬ 
geon fanciers denominated toys. 
The Fancy-Spot. —From whence this pigeon derived 
its origin is uncertain, but it was firll imported into this 
country from Holland ; it has its name from a Ipot juft 
above its beak, upon the top of its head ; the tail-feathers 
are for the mod part of the fame colour with the fpot, but 
the body is generally all white. The tail and fpot in fome 
©f thefe birds are either yellow, red, or black ; there are 
fome blue, but thefe are rare; they make an exceeding 
prettjr appearance when they fpread their tails to fly, and 
what is remarkable in this fpecies is, that they always 
breed their young of the fame colour with themfelves. 
The Laugher.— This pigeon is a native of Paleftine 
in Alia, and was brought into Europe by the (hips which 
trade to and from Turkey. In fliape and make it very 
much refembles a middle-fized runt; its plumage is gene¬ 
rally red-mottled, but fometimes it is blue 5 and it has a 
very bright clear pearl eye, inclining to a white. When 
the cock feeks for and begins to purfue the hen, he ha^ 
a kind of rough coo, like the bubbling of water poured 
from a jug, and then makes a rattling noife, very much 
like a gentle convulfive laugh, and from this it derives 
its names. 
The Nun. —This is a fmall pigeon, and from the plea- 
fing contrail: in its feathers, greatly attracts the notice of 
the beholder; tne plumage is fo remarkable, that its head 
is almoft covered with a veil of feathers, which has given 
it the name of nun. The plumage of its body is chiefly 
white ; its head, tail,and the fix quill-feathers of its wings, 
fliould be entirely red, yellow, or black; that is, when its 
head is red, its quill-feathers and tail fnould be red alfo, 
and, when its head is yellow, its quills and tail Ihoud be 
yellow ; and, when its head is black, its quills and tail 
ihould alio- be of the tame colour; and, agreeable to this, 
they are called either red-headed, yellow-headed, or black¬ 
headed, nuns; and whenever the colour of the feathers 
differs from thefe rules, they are termed foul ; for exam¬ 
ple, thould a red-headed bird have a black, or any dif¬ 
ferent colour in its head, except red, it would be termed 
foul-headed ; or a white feather in' its wing, it is then 
foul-flighted; and in like manner with the yellow and 
black-headed ones: it is to be obferved that molt of them 
have a few foul feathers, but when this happens in the 
lealt degree, it decreafes their value, though they often 
feem to rear as pure feathered as thofe that are perfect. 
The nun fliould have a pearl eye, with a fmall beak and 
head ; its head fliould be covered with a hood of white 
feathers, riling' from the back part of the head, and the 
larger this tuft or hood is, the handfomer is the appear¬ 
ance of the bird. 
The Helmetf.d Fancy Pigeon.— This curious and 
beautiful bird is in great eftimation in Holland, where 
infinite pains are taken in crofting them, for the purpole 
of producing elegance and uniformity in their colours. 
It is a fmall pigeon, with iliort red legs, and receives its 
name from the head being ornamented with a cap or co¬ 
vering of fine foft feathers, terminating in a fliort tuft be¬ 
hind. The great art of the fancier in railing thefe birds 
to a perfect plumage is, to bring the helmet, tips of the 
wings, and tail, to one uniform correfpomient colour, 
either yellow, red, blue, green, or black ; the lower part 
of the back, rump, and flioulders, are ufually mottled 
with all thefe colours ; but the breaft and belly are either 
a beautiful white, or lovely rofe-pink, terminated towards 
the neck by a collar of green, on a blue azure ground, 
which dies away on its back, into the marble or mottled 
plumage above deferibed. Birds thus perfefted in their 
feather by a number of crofiings, are of extreme value, 
and wellreward thefancierforhis longperfeverance and in¬ 
genuity. Indeed the elegant plumage of this pigeon baffles 
all defcription, and nothing butthe eye, or the pencil of 
an ingenious artift, can appreciate or exprefs its beauty. 
The Jacobine. —This fancy-pigeon is ufually called 
the jack ; it is a pretty bird, but the genuine breed has 
been greatly degenerated by an imprudent mixture with 
the ruff, with a view of improving the chain by the length 
of-the ruff’s feathers ; but by this ill-judged praftice the 
chain is almoft broken. The bird bred larger is much 
fiimfier in its hood and chain, with an additional length 
of beak 5 in a word, it is worfted in ail its original pro¬ 
perties ; for the veal jacobine is one of the fmalleft pi¬ 
geons, and the lefs they are the more they are valued. 
It has a range of inverted feathers on the back of its head, 
which turns towards the neck, like the cap or cowl of a monk, 
whence this bird derives its name of jacobine, or capper, 
as fome call it. The upper part of this feathered cover¬ 
ing is called the hood, and the more compa£l and ciofe 
this ornament grows to the head of the bird, fo much the 
more does it enhance its value among the curious. The 
Dutch ftile the lower part of this range of feathers the 
cravat, but with us it is called the chain. The feathers 
which compofe this chain Ihould be long and thick, fo 
that by laying hold of the bill, and giving the neck a 
gentle ltretch, the two fides fliould lap over each other, as 
has been often experienced in fome of the belt fancy birds 
of this fpecies; but real good ones are very fcarce in this 
country. But though thefe have been much neglefted 
with us, our neighbours, the Dutch and French, breed 
them to great perfeftion. The real jacobine is poffeffed 
of a very fmall head, with a Ihort bill, and clear pearl eye. 
As to its plumage, there are yellows, reds, mottled, blues, 
and blacks; though the yellow birds always claim the 
precedence; yet of whatever colour they prove to be, 
they mull always have a white tail, white quill feathers, 
and a clean white head; the legs and feet of fome of 
them are covered with feathers, others are naked ; but 
this is of no flgnification, as each fort has its admirers. 
Dealers in pigeons, like dealers in horfes, pradile various 
arts to take in the unwary, and impofe upon the credulity 
of the lefs knowing ;-and they have a method of artificially 
railing the chain and hood of this pigeon, which they 
term coaxing ; this they do by dipping the feathers at 
4- . the 
