October 31.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
71 
situation, quite unable to resist other pigeons which attack 
them, ami can with one stroke of the bill inflict a mortal 
wound on their swelled throat. If a gust of wind overtakes 
them it turns them over with violence, and frequently carries 
them some distance. But still these disadvantages are 
nothing compared to another, frequently brought on by this 
prodigious distention of the throat, the result of which is 
usually fatal. The Pouters are not very productive, and 
have great difficulty in feeding their young: the reiterated 
efforts which they are obliged to make, to bring back into 
their beak the grain they have swallowed, occasions a disease 
which generally terminates in death in the course of a few 
days. The muscles of the crop, already weakened by too 
great a distention, entirely lose their energy after a spasm 
of disgorgement, and they remain in a paralyzed and weak¬ 
ened state; the first digestion no longer takes place, the 
corn accumulates and remains unacted upon in the crop, 
which it draws down by its weight. The fatigued animal 
can no longer support it, but leans forward and drags its 
throat on the earth; it is deprived of the power of dying, 
and sorrowfully creeps into the darkest corner of the dove¬ 
cot ; the grain which can no longer pass into the stomach 
becomes putrescent; the membrane of the crop is indamed; 
ulcerations appear, and death quickly follows, if a prompt 
remedy is not resorted to. There is one mode of curing 
this disease, which we will now give, having practised it our¬ 
selves with perfect success. A kind of bag must be pro¬ 
cured the length of the sick pigeon, and sufficiently narrow 
to press every part of the body, but still not to hurt it in 
any way. The material it is made with ought to be as elastic 
as possible, that is to say knit. A thread stocking may be 
advantageously employed if we will not trouble ourselves to 
make a bag on purpose. The pigeon is slipped into it, 
taking the precaution of securing its feet by extending them 
the length of its tail, to prevent its making painful and dan¬ 
gerous efforts to release itself; the head and a small part 
of the neck is allowed to protrude through the upper open¬ 
ing. Thus swaddled, the bag is hung against a wall or ver¬ 
tical plank, by means of a string fastened round the pigeon, 
and the breast is placed against the surface of the wall or 
plank ; it is left in this attitude for several days; and when 
the grain it has taken is well digested, some more is given 
it, but in small quantities, and at intervals it is then allowed 
to drink, without leaving its bag. The disease being now 
removed, it is set at liberty in a place by itself, and its food 
rationed out to it, so as to give it time to re-establish itself 
perfectly. The muscles of the crop gradually recover their 
vigour, and the bird is restored to health. However, when 
this accident has once occurred, it is frequently known to 
be reproduced by every brood. Sometimes the crop bursts, 
and the food diffusing itself occasions the most serious con¬ 
sequences. In this case, I have seen my colleague, hi. 
Corbie, open the throat with a very sharp incision knife, 
take out all the food that had entered it, sew up the opening 
with a piece of silk, and then follow the treatment we have 
just described for the first case. 
In consequence of all these reasons, these birds have been 
rather neglected, in spite of their beauty. According to 
Buffon, also, some varieties of them have been lost, at least 
in Palis. 
22. Common Pouter Pigeon : Columba gutturosa subrubi.- 
cunda. —The males are generally streaked with small black 
tongues at the extremity of the plumage; the females are 
never thus streaked. The eye with a yellow iris, or cock’s 
i eye; the feet a little shod; plumage reddish brown. As 
these birds all produce abundantly, and nearly equally, we 
shall not repleat it in the other varieties. 
23. The Cropper: Columba gutturosastrumosa. —It differs 
from the preceding in the plumage, the extremity of which 
is the colour of the chamois or wild goat. It is never 
streaked, and it is much less esteemed. The eye is black 
like the following ; feet rather shod; the females are never 
streaked. 
21. Whitish Pouter : Columba gutturosa Candida. —Its 
name indicates what it is. It has the swelling much less 
detached than the following, with which it must not be con¬ 
founded. 
25. White Pouter : Columba gutturosa alba. —The swell¬ 
ing of the throat appears much detached like a globe. The 
wings long, crossing over the tail; the feet a little shod. 
20. Spotted-grey Pouter: Columba gutturosa cinerea 
variegata. —Its colour would be uniform, if it was not for 
some black tongue-shaped marks scattered irregularly over 
the cloak or covering of the wings. 
27. Grey Pouter: Columba gutturosa cinerea blanda .— Its 
colour is delicate and uniform all over the body. 
28. Rusty-grey Pouter : Columba gutturosa cinerea-femi- 
ginosa. —It is marked with riband like bars. 
20. Grey-dotted Pouter : Columba gutturosa cinerea- 
punctata .— Silvery, and spotted with black. 
30. Marroon Pouter : Columba gutturosa balanicolor .— 
A broad white mark on the neck; plumage of a brown chest¬ 
nut colour, with the quill feathers of the wing all white. 
31. Bibbed Black Pouter: Columba gutturosa nigra .— 
Of a beautiful velvety black, with the ten large quill feathers 
of the wing quite white ; white bib under the neck ; naked 
feet; that is, without feathers. 
32. Bibbed Slate-coloured Pouter : Columba gutturosa 
ardosiee colorem referens et fasciata .—Wings and bib white ; 
female like the male, as in all the pouters with white wings; 
feet shod. 
33. Red Pouter: Columba gutturosa rubcscens. —Wings 
and bib white ; feathers reddish. 
34. Olive Pouter : Columba gutturosa oleagina. —Plumage 
of an olive-coloured brown. I have never seen this species 
described by Buffon ; doubtless it no longer exists. 
35. Dark-grey Pouter : Columba gutturosa cincrea-caUgi- 
nosa. —Wings and bib white ; plumage of a sombre grey. 
30. Blue Pouter : Columba gutturosa ccerulea. —Wings 
and bib white; plumage bluish, with black streaks. This 
pretty variety is very generally spread through Picardy, 
where it is highly valued. 
37. Large English Pouter : Columba gutturosa maxima. 
—This superb variety, which at the present time only exists 
in England, very frequently attains the size of a Roman 
pigeon ; it is very productive. 
38. Dantzic Pouter: Columba gutturosa gedana. —This is 
not so large as the preceding; its plumage is of a uniform 
pale red, with the wings streaked with white; naked feet; 
yellow iris. 
30. Harnessed Pouter : Columba gutturosa strata. —This 
variety and the following are much smaller than the preced¬ 
ing, neither have they the faculty of swelling their throat so 
much. They differ from them again in the feet, which are 
not always so much shod. It has a plumage varied in an 
inverse manner with the swallow; that is, what is white in 
one is coloured in the other. There is, however, this differ¬ 
ence, that the spot, coloured in the swallow and white in 
this pouter, extends in this last a little below the beak, in 
the form of a half bib or band. Its neck and throat are of 
a deep slate-coloured grey, the back light blue, the wings 
and the shoulders white, as well as the head; the tail is 
blue, tipped with a black bar. 
40. Yellow-harnessed Poutee : Columba gutturosa strata- 
