278 









Pigeon Department: 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
PRIESTS. 
Priests or Quakers are the pet toys of many fanciers; 
and here the old adage is very applicable, ‘‘ Every one to 
his fancy.’’? For myself, my fancy runs in a different chan- 
nel, though I remember well with what happiness I carried 
- home the first pair of Priests I ever owned. They were 
very ordinary birds, as judged in these days, but to me they 
were priceless. The rest of the afternoon was spent nailing 
boxes against the house-wall; and as the boxes were too 
heavy for a boy to handle, occasional tumbles of box, boy, 
and birds drew forth peals of laughter and merry shouts 
from our neighbor’s daughters, before whose eyes I was 
always a shamefaced youth. 
It may be that some experience was what ultimately 
caused me to dislike the Priests. " Not that the young ladies 
were at all disliked; but what boy can stand his interest in 
his pigeons made a matter of amusement and yet preserve 
his equilibrium? As sure as I went into the garden to look 
up at my Quakers, so surely did those girls look out of the 
window and whistle ‘¢ Hua, hua, hua.’’ 

Many is the time 
they have driven me away with a forlorn smile on my lip 
and bitterness in my heart to wish my pigeons were dead. 
Ah, but I have had my revenge since those days. Both 
those girls have husbands, both have children, and both 
have pigeons. Pigeons in their garrets, in their stables, in 
their cellars. Yea, I saw this day a pair of cropped-winged 
birds upon the baby’s crib, as I examined the oldest boy for 
the measles. His last words were, ‘* When are you going to 
bring me the Quakers?’’? His mother’s benediction was, 
“Doctor, if you bring uny more pigeons here, you shall 
never enter my house again. It is all your fault, I cannot 
have a clean room to sit down in.”’ 
My readers, you cannot tell how well I felt as I drove 
home, knowing the merriment and whistling is all on my 
side now. That boy will be here after the Quakers as soon 
as he gets out; and every time I see his mamma it is only 
necessary to ‘“‘ hua, hua’’ once or twice to awaken the mer- 
riest memories of the past. The bitterness of my youthful 
days is gone, and we can afford to laugh amid our retrospec- 
tion at what was then the most important object of our lives. 
Now that we have reached a breathing-place, you may 
ask, what has this to do with Priests? Why, but for what 
has been written, no article on that variety would:have fol- 
lowed, nor would I have impressed upon you how necessary 
it is that we should enter into the sympathies of the little 
people. They cannot understand us; therefore, to insure 
their happiness, try to understand them; the effort wonder- 
fully repays us. If your boy wants pigeons, help him to fix 
up for them. Do not laugh his fancies to scorn, or you 
may chill all the feelings that bind him to his home; and 
recollect your fancies for your cigar, novel, or horse, are 
no more intense than his for his (to you) minor interests. 


FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 

But enough of this. Let us to the Priests, as they are 
called in Germany, on account of their white cowl, and in 
contradistinction to the black veil of the Nun; or Quakers, 
as they are called in this country, by reason of their firm, 
sedate, and sombre appearance. 
The Priest is about the size of the common, and the plain 
birds are not unlike it in shape, but the Starlings partake 
more of the shape of the Suabian or Archangel, to which 
they are nearly related. The Priest is a solid or whole col- 
ored bird, with the exception of the head, which is bald 
(or white). The line between the colors passes through the 
centres of the eyes, and along the inner and lower part of 
the hood, which must be free from any foul white feathers. 
The upper half of the beak is white, the lower dark. The 
eye is generally mixed, but I have seen them where the up- 
per half was pearl; the lower half dark; thus partaking of 
the colors of the head and neck. The hood must be propor- 
tioned to the size of the bird, and in the ordinary colors it 
must be a perfect cup-edged hood; but in the Starling a 
point head is frequently seen, and does not detract from the 
beauty of the bird. The feet closely covered with short 
feathers, among which no whites are allowed, not even on 
the toes. The Starlings are clean-footed, and indeed ought 
hardly to be ranked with the Priests, as they more nearly - 
approach the Suabians and Archangels. There are plain 
Priests, which signifies that the colors—black, red, blue, © 
and yellow—are solid (except the Bald-head), without bars 
across the tail or wings; then there are barred Priests, in 
which the bars are allowed, and also white barred birds, in 
which white bars occupy the positions on the wings and 
tail, in place of the dark bars generally seen. Of these, the 
red and yellow birds with white bars, are rarest—the plain 
birds next. The Starling, or Star Quaker, is a black bird 
with white bars across the wings, and a crescent-shaped 
band of finely spangled iridescent, irradiating feathers about 
the throat, the upper border of which is straight across the 
neck, and distinctly marked ; its head is bald, and feet clean. 
The following points may be useful to judge by: 
1. Coloring. A colored bird with white head, the line of 
division passing through the centre of the eyes, within the 
base of the hood, and sloping at the corners of the mouth. 
2. Eyes. The upper half pearl, the lower half dark. 
3. Feet. Covered with short, close feathers, except the 
Starlings, which are clean. 
4. Hood well proportioned; clear on the inside; the 
Starling sometimes point-headed. 
5. Colors black, red, blue, yellow, and starling. 
Sometimes the Priest degenerates, and loses nearly all 
the white of the head, excepting a spot near the base of the 
beak, then it is called a white spot. 
Dr. W. P. Moraan. 

s@s- DeatH oF A NATURALIST.—The venerable Luth- 
eran pastor, John Bachman, distinguished as a naturalist, 
and life-long friend and co-laborer of Agassiz and Audu- 
bon, died at Charleston, 8. ©., last week, aged 85. In 
early life he was associated with Audubon, whom he assisted 
in the preparation of his celebrated work on Ornithology,. 
and was the principal author of the illustrated work on the 
Quadrupeds of North America. He had been pastor of the 
German Lutheran Church in Charleston for about fifty 
years, and has published many works on the denomination 
with which he was connected. 
