280 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
July 29. 
information. Our knowledge on this matter is confined to 
some remarks made by chance, the result of which is, that 
some eggs put aside without any precaution, and taken again 
some time after as clear, to amuse some pigeons whose lay¬ 
ing we would wish to retard, have, nevertheless, sometimes 
produced young ones healthy and strong. However, we 
know a means of preserving eggs fruitful during fifteen days, 
which is to put them in a box, on a thick bed of ashes sifted 
very fine, to cover them with another thick layer, and to shut 
the box close. 
As soon as a female has laid her last egg, she begins to 
sit. Every day, about eleven o’clock in the morning, she 
leaves her eggs to go and feed at the trough ; but, before 
doing so, she calls her mate by a particular little cooing. 
He immediately hastens to relieve her, and sits in his turn, 
until four o’clock in summer, and about three in winter. At 
this time the female returns to her nest, and does not leave 
| it at night. If it happens that, led away by pleasure, she 
forgets herself longer than usual, the male rises, seeks her 
I with uneasiness, and brings her back by administering 
matrimonial correction. 
Buflfon, and those authors who have copied him, pretend, 
that from the date of the laying of the second egg_ to the 
hatching of the young ones, it requires seventeen or eighteen 
days in summer, and nineteen or twenty in winter. M. Corbie 
observed the duration of incubation with a precision that no 
one had hitherto taken the trouble to do. It always had the 
same result, within a few hours. For 45 years, his pigeons, in 
winter as well as summer, have invariably sat from 420 to 
424 hours, which corresponds to 17 days and 10 hours, when 
there has been any lack of heat, occasioned by the negli¬ 
gence or confusion of the pigeons ; and 17 days and 12 
hours when the pair sat close and warm equally. It is true, 
that the young ones never both hatch at the same time, and 
the second may not do so till 24 hours after the first; but 
the fault cannot proceed from that cause. We know that 
the young ones are about to hatch when the eggs are what 
we call chipped—that is to say, a little broken near tbe 
large end. It is a very common error to think that the shell 
is broken by the parents to help the young ones out; we 
may easily convince ourselves that such is not the case by 
the slightest examination, when we shall perceive that it is 
broken by the young pigeon alone ; we have only to observe, 
that the crack of a chipped egg is always made from within, 
| since the small fragments of the shell constantly rise up, or 
| rather are pushed out, above the level of the surface of the 
j egg. We may easily suppose that the operation of disen- 
| tangling itself from its calcareous covering, to come to light, 
| is extremely laborious for the little one. With some it quite 
surpasses their strength; and they perish, if I may thus 
i speak, before they are born. In this case it is necessary to 
i assist nature. We take a blunted pointed instrument, and 
open the egg with the greatest precaution, so as not to hurt 
the bird it encloses; for if the smallest particle of blood 
appears the bird infallibly dies. Never attempt this operation, 
I except as a last remedy, and when nature has evidently ex- 
j liausted all its resources, for if by this means we save one 
out of ten, we may think ourselves very fortunate. Besides, 
it is always dangerous to hasten it, since wc have sometimes 
seen chipped eggs not hatch for 48 hours, without the young 
ones appearing to have suffered much. 
(To be continued.) 
DOMESTIC PIGEONS. 
( Continued from page 202.) 
TWENTY-THIRD RACE. 
Shaker Pigeon (Columba treniula ).— These birds are 
very small; their beak is thin; their eyes have a yellow 
iris, and no filament; their wings are drooping below their 
tail, which is more or less elevated, and their feet are never 
ornamented with feathers. These singular animals are 
almost always agitated with a convulsive trembling, parti¬ 
cularly when courting. They cannot be crossed with any 
other species without losing these characteristics. The 
Shaker pigeons do not thrive well in a dovecote; they ily 
badly, and arc apt to be carried by the wind, in consequence 
of the size of their tail; but as they very soon become 
familiarized, they are frequently reared in a cage as objects 
of curiosity. 
Broad-tailed Shaker Pigeon (Columbatrcmulalalicauda). ) 
—It has a very large tail, composed of from twenty-eight to 
forty-two feathers, having the faculty of raising and dis¬ 
playing it like the peacock. In doing this, it brings it 
forward, and then throws its head back so as to touch its 1 
tail. The animal trembles more or less in this attitude, 
and this trembling very much resembles that of a peacock 
or turkey-cock when spreading its tail. It is all white, or 
white with the head and tail black. There are even some 
to be met with whose cloak and tail partake of all the ordi¬ 
nary colours of pigeons. The female raises and displays 
her tail like the male, and has as fine a one. This bird is 
not very productive, and is but little sought after, except for 
its originality. It appears that this race has been brought to 
much greater perfection during some few years, for Buffon 
pretends that the handsomest have thirty-two feathers in 
the tail, and they are frequently to be met with at the pre¬ 
sent time with as many as forty-two (we know that all other 
pigeons have but twelve). Fresch remarks, that at the 
same time when the Peacock-pigeon displays its tail, which ! 
always happens when it is amorous, and frequently in other 
instances, it haughtily and constantly agitates its head and 
neck, very much like the bird called the woodpecker. Gmelli 
Careri, quoted by Buffon, says that pigeons are found in 
the Phillipine Islands which raise and display their tail like j 
the peacock; are these individuals that have been carried 
there, or do ours come from that country ? Another and 
more interesting question would be, to know if this Phil- 
lipian pigeon is found wild there, which would prove it to j 
be not only a variety, but a true species. If that was the ! 
case, the great difficulty of knowing whether our varieties of 
the dovecote pigeon descend from the stockdove alone, or j 
from the stockdove and other species crossed with it, would 
cease to be a difficulty. 
Narrow-tailed Shaker, or Quaker Pigeon (Columba 
trcmula angusticauda ).—It only differs from the preceding 
by its almost continual shaking, and from not having the 
faculty of raising its tail, which is also much smaller. 
Silky Shaker Pigeon (Columba lalicauda setacea ).—It I 
resembles on the whole the peacock; but the beards of its 
feathers are soft, separated, and falling like a fringe of silk 
or cotton, which deprives it of the faculty of flying. It is, also, 
not very fruitful. Like the preceding, it is very familiar, 
and some amateurs bring them up in their apartments. Its 
flesh has a gamey flavour, resembling that of river birds. 
The Guiana Shaker Pigeon (Columba treniula Guiana). 
This superb variety, with a wide tail, and displayed like that 
of the peacock, has been brought from Guiana. The end 
of its plumage is of a dull white ; the wings are blue, 
shaded with some kind of paler-coloured eyes, and striped 
with black bars. All the smaller races of pigeons, crossed 
with the Silky Shaker, produce Silky pigeons in alHlieir : 
forms and colours ; but, above all, if we couple this one 
with a pigeon whose wings are barred with black, they will 
produce individuals whose fringed bars of varied colours 
will resemble unwoven fringe, and produce a very agreeable 
effect. (To be continued.) 
