PIGEONS. 
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When in perfection, tumblers are esteemed by many persons 
to be the prettiest of all the pigeon tribe; and this high opinion 
is borne out by the beautiful diversity of their colors, which 
are so elegant and rich, in some birds, that they have been 
compared to a bed of tulips. The more they are variegated in 
the flight and tail, especially if the ground color be yellow, the 
more they are prized; and a fine bright-yellow ground has the 
precedence of all others, from its being so exceedingly difficult 
to acquire, that twenty light-colored birds may be procured for 
one displaying a deep, richly-tinted ground. 
THE CARRIER. 
The carrier, Pigeon de Turquie , of the French, is somewhat 
larger than most of the common pigeons; its feathers lie very 
close and smooth, and its neck is long and straight. From the 
lower part of the head to the middle of the upper chap, there is 
a lump of white, naked, fungous-looking flesh, which is denom¬ 
inated the “wattle;” this, in good birds, is met by two small 
swellings of similar flesh, which rise on each side of the under 
chap; and if this flesh be of blackish color, the bird is con¬ 
sidered very valuable. The circle round the black pupil of the 
eye is usually of a brick-dust-red color; but if it be of a 
brilliant red tint, it adds considerably to the value of the bird ; 
this circle is surrounded by another of naked fungous flesh, 
generally about the breadth of a half eagle, the greater the 
^ breadth of which, the more it is admired. When the incrusted ^ 
