Chap. I. 
SELECTION BY MAN. 
39 
which, are first given to him in some slight degree by 
nature. No man would ever try to make a fantail, till 
he saw a pigeon with a tail developed in some slight 
degree in an unusual manner, or a pouter till he saw a 
pigeon with a crop of somewhat unusual size; and the 
more abnormal or unusual any character was when it first 
appeared, the more likely it would be to catch his atten¬ 
tion. But to use such an expression as trying to make 
a fantail, is, I have no doubt, in most cases, utterly in¬ 
correct. The man who first selected a pigeon with a 
slightly larger tail, never dreamed what the descendants 
of that pigeon would become through long-continued, 
partly unconscious and partly methodical selection. Per¬ 
haps the parent bird of all fantails had only fourteen tail- 
feathers somewhat expanded, like the present Java fan- 
tail, or like individuals of other and distinct breeds, in 
which as many as seventeen tail-feathers have been 
counted. Perhaps the first pouter-pigeon did not inflate 
its crop much more than the turbit now does the upper 
part of its oesophagus,—a habit which is disregarded by 
all fanciers, as it is not one of the points of the breed. 
Nor let it be thought that some great deviation of 
structure would be necessary to catch the fancier’s eye : 
he perceives extremely small differences, and it is in 
human nature to value any novelty, however slight, in 
one’s own possession. Nor must the value which would 
formerly be set on any slight differences in the individuals 
of the same species, be judged of by the value which 
would now be set on them, after several breeds have 
once fairly been established. Many slight differences 
might, and indeed do now, arise amongst pigeons, which 
are rejected as faults or deviations from the standard of 
perfection of each breed. The common goose has not 
given rise to any marked varieties; hence the Thoulouse 
and the common breed, which differ only in colour, that 
