286 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 3,1858. 
of Pigeons are tlie Blue Rock, and the Chequered Dovehouse 
Pigeons ; but I do not suppose it will be necessary to offer 
prizes for these, or for any of our native Doves,—as the Ring 
Dove, the Stock Dove, and the Turtle Dove,—any more than 
it would be for the common mixtures or mongrels, everywhere 
too common. 
Our present business is, therefore, only with Fancy Pigeons 
! and Toys, between which there is a great difference. The 
two cannot equitably compete together. The fancy Pigeons 
! have points and properties which mark them as distinct 
breeds, even if some of them do not originally proceed from 
i different species; for if found wild our naturalists would not 
hesitate to call them such, even though they differed, ap¬ 
parently, less than these tame breeds do; as these points 
distinguish them respective breeds, under whatever variety of 
colour or marking they may be bred. 
Toys, on the other hand, are such Pigeons whose value 
consists in the marking of their plumage or colour of their 
feathers only. They are either derivable from the domes¬ 
tication of the dovecot Pigeons, or crosses and mixtures of 
other breeds, and if they lose this one property, are hence¬ 
forth nothing more than common mixtures or mongrels,— 
equally good to eat, but of no fancy value. 
The fancy Pigeons may again be divided into two; but this 
division is in some measure arbitrary, or, at least, only com¬ 
plimentary to Pigeon-fanciers. Thus, the four breeds that 
have long been most in vogue have received the designation 
of high fancy birds, and on this account are allowed pre¬ 
cedence, though, in the eye of the naturalist or the unpre¬ 
judiced fancier, they are not more distinct or worthy of culture 
than many other fancy sorts. 
The classification which naturally follows is, then :—> 
1st. High Fancy Birds. —The Carrier, the Almond Tumbler, 
the Powter, and the Runts. 
2nd. TheFantail, the Jacobin, the Trumpeter and Laugher, 
the Turbit and Owl Pigeons, the Barb, the Antwerp, the 
Frillbaek, and the Lace Pigeon. 
There are also some others that have distinctive peculiarities, 
that give them a right to a place in this second division, 
but which are too little known here to require a separate class 
at our Shows. They are — The Mahomet, Swallow-tailed, 
Carmelite, Friesland Runt, Finnikin, Turner, Smiter, and 
the Crested Pigeon. 
3rd. Toys. —The more common are—The Suabian and other 
spangled Pigeons,—as Hyacinths, Porcelains or Ermines, 
Archangel, Nun, Swallow, Magpie, and Spot. The less known 
Toys are—Priest, Monk, Capuchin, White Archangel, Breast¬ 
plate, Helmet, Shield, Swiss, S tarl ing-br eas ted, Stork, Gull, 
Martin or Lahore, White Spot, and Ice Pigeons, &c. 
In the following list, which I offer as a guide to Com¬ 
mittees making out their schedules, I have endeavoured to 
place what I believe to be the original colour or variety of 
each breed first: — 
MODEL PRIZE LIST, 
For the Classification of Pigeons. 
CLASS. BREED. 
Carriers. 
1. Black 
2. Dun 
3. Blue 
4. White 
5. Pied, or any other 
Colour. 
Tumblers. 
6. Whole Colours and 
Mottles 
7. Almonds 
8. Baldheads 
9. Beards 
10. Any other Variety. 
JPowters. 
11. Blue Pied 
12. Black Pied 
13. Red Pied 
14. Yellow Pied 
15. White, or any other 
Colour. 
CLASS. BREED. 
Bunts. 
16. Leghorn 
17. Roman 
18. Spanish 
19. Scandaroon 
20. Any other Variety. 
Fantails. 
21. White 
22. Black 
23. Any other Colour. 
Jacobins. 
24. Black Baldheaded 
25. Red Baldheaded 
26. Yellow Baldheaded 
27. White, or any other 
Colour. 
Trumpeters. 
28. White 
29. Black Mottled 
30. Any other Colour. 
CLASS. BREED. 
Laughers. 
31. Any Colour. 
Barbs. 
32. Black 
33. Dun 
34. Red 
35. Any other Colour. 
Turbits. 
36. Blue-shouldered 
37. Red-shouldered 
38. Yellow-shouldered 
39. Any other Coloured 
Shoulders. 
Owls. 
40. Blue 
41. Silver 
42. Any other Colour. 
Antiverps (longfaced). 
43. Strawberry or Mealy 
44. Any other Colour. 
Antwerps (,short faced). 
45. Blue ancl Chequered 
46. Any other Colour. 
Frillbacks. 
47. Any Colour. 
Lace or Silky. 
48. Any Variety. 
Fxtra Fancy Figeons. 
49. Such as Finnikin, Ma¬ 
homet, &c. 
—B. P. Brent. 
CLASS. BREED. 
TOYS. 
Spangled Figeons. 
50. Suabians, Spangles 
51. Hyacinths, Porcelains 
Victorias, and Ennuis’ 
52. Archangels. 
Nuns. 
53. Black-heacled. 
54. With any other Coloured 
Heads. 
Terns , or Sea Swallows. 
55. Blue Winged 
56. Any other Coloured 
Wings. 
Magpies , 
57. Black 
58. Any other Colour. 
Spots. 
59. Black 
60. Any other Colour. 
Fxtra Class {for Toys). 
61. Such as Priests, White 
Spots and Angels, 
Helmet, Shield, Breast¬ 
plate, Starling, Stork, 
Martin, Gull, Half¬ 
moon, Ice Pigeon, &c. 
62. An Extra Class for 
Foreign or Wild Pi¬ 
geons of various species 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Carriers Pitching Short. —“ I have a pair of Carriers about twelve 
months old, and also three young ones. I am training the old cock to 
come a long distance. The first time I took him about half a mile from 
home, and turned him loose; the very first house he came to he 
dropt on it; but in two minutes he rose again, and never stopped till he 
found home. I have taken him three or four times to this place, and 
he always drops on the same house; and I have taken him to many 
places, and he always drops. Now this is a very bad practice. I wish 
you could tell me a plan to break him of it. I have heard of Carriers 
rising to a great height in the air in search of home, but my Carrier 
goes very little higher than a tall tree. I have also tried my young 
ones, and they are worse than the old ones, both for dropping and 
flying low. They would fly better if they would fly round the house, 
but I can scarcely drive them off it.”— Constant Reader. 
[The habit of pitching w r hen tossed is a very bad and disagreeable 
practice, of which it is difficult to break the Carrier. The best 
method I can recommend, is to keep the pigeons confined to their loft, 
turning them out for exercise only twice a day, and keeping them on 
the wing as long as practicable, and not allowing them to get into the 
habit of lazily loitering on the roof, but as much as possible to connect 
liberty with flying. But let the loft be comfortable and well supplied 
with all the pigeons require.—B. P. B.] 
Egg-eating IIen (A North Countryman ).—The only way to check 
this bad habit, is to watch and take away the egg as soon as laid, 
keeping a nest egg of chalk or other material in the nest. It is a habit 
the hen is liable to recur to. 
LONDON MARKETS. —August 2nd. 
POULTRY. 
The tendency of the market is still downwards. The supply in¬ 
creases, while the demand falls off. A few very large and choice fowls 
still sell well, as the price for the last two months has induced breeders 
and feeders to make hay while the sun shines, and they preferred 
selling while they were dear to the risk of keeping. Hence their 
scarcity. 
Each. 
Large Fowls ... 6s. 6 d. to 7s. 0 cl. 
Small ditto. 3 6 ,,4 0 
Chickens. 2 0 „ 3 0 
Geese . 6 0 ,, 7 0 
Ducks. 2 6 ,,3 0 
Each. 
Leverets.3s. tid. to 4s. 0 d. 
Pigeons . 
0 
8 
JJ 
0 
9 
Guinea Fowls. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Rabbits . 
1 
5 
5 > 
1 
6 
Wild ditto. 
0 
8 
5* 
0 
9 
London : Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester, High-street, in the 
Parish of Saint Mary Ivalendar; and Published for the Proprietors, at 
The Cottage Gardener Office, No. 20, Paternoster Row, in the 
Parish of Christ Church, City of London.—August 3rd, 1858. 
