534 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
proved, for on subsequent occasions these same ducks would, 
upon hearing the piano, leave the field and come into the 
room to listen. 
CHEAP POULTRY YARD. 
Set posts firmly into the ground, six feet high, eight feet 
apart. Take No. 9 wire and stretch from post to post out- 
side, fastening with staples made of wire driven to posts. 
Place three wires one inch apart, one foot from the ground ; 
another three at three feet ten inches from the ground ; an- 
other three at top of posts. Take common laths and weave 
in, leaving three inches space between sides of each. This 
makes the fence four feet high. Then take other laths, 
picket one end and chamfer the other like a chisel blade, 
and interweave among the ten wires ; then shove the cham- 
fered edge down between the top of the bottom lath, lapping 
under wires two inches. This makes a cheap, durable, 
pretty fence, that is seven feet and ten inches high, and 
fowl tight. Wires should be somewhat slack, as inter- 
weaving the lath will take it up. — Woonsocket Patriot. 
PiqEopI De(=^j[vie^j. 
“BIG EYE” TUMBLER. 
Although these birds are called Tumblers, those bred at 
the present day seldom tumble; but I am told by the old 
fanciers that upwards of twenty-five years ago they were 
noted for their performances in the air, being what is called 
very close Tumblers; and it was not uncommon to find 
specimens that would tumble inside ; but, of late years, as 
they became more valuable, they were seldom flown; and, 
being bred more for eye, beak, and color, they soon lost the 
faculty of tumbling ; and I doubt if at the present day many 
specimens could be found that would tumble. They are of 
four colorings — black, red, yellow, and dun — the color being 
more brilliant than in other varieties of the same shade — 
the two latter colorings are quite scarce. In build they 
have the appearance of a cross between a Barb and a Tum- 
bler. They are very wide across the skull, and quite flat. 
They have a beak somewhat like a Tumbler, but much wider 
at the base, and of a fleshy appearance, and not so long as 
that of a flying Tumbler; and always white in good speci- 
mens confined to a room; but, if flown, the beak will soon 
change in color to a darker shade. They have a regular 
Tumbler eye, surrounded by a white silky skin as large as the 
wattling of a first-class Barb; but no signs of wattling, and 
very few wrinkles. Any show of wattling or color, is a sure 
indication of a Barb cross. They are also devoid of feathers 
under the beak (which is covered by the same white silky 
skin as around the eye), and the better the bird, the more this 
peculiarity is developed — but without any appearance of gul- 
let, as in Owls. They are inclined to be loosely feathered, 
and often look ragged, even when in good health. They are 
longer in proportion to their size than any other pigeon — the 
difference in length being mostly in the tail and flight feath- 
ers. The middle feathers in the tail are usually longer than 
the others ; and what is remarkable in this bird, if well bred, 
it will usually have fourteen feathers in the tail, while all 
others (except the Fantail) have twelve. This great length 
in comparison to their size gives them an entirely different 
appearance from other pigeons, and becomes a leading char- 
acteristic of the breed. The secondary feathers of the wing 
are raised above the back when at rest, as in good specimens 
of the Barb. Although to an inexperienced fancier they 
look so much like a Barb at first sight, they have nothing in 
common with them (except the fact of the secondary feath- 
ers being raised above the back), and it seems impossible that 
they could ever have been bred from them, as some might 
suppose, as no breed will show a cross with the Barb sooner 
than they will. This cross has often been resorted to by 
rival fanciers, but never with success, as the eye shows the 
wattling and color at once, and in most cases the two extra 
feathers in the tail will be lost in the first cross. I well 
remember, at the exhibition of the Pennsylvania Poultry 
Society of 1868, a strong contest between two rival fanciers 
of this breed; one of them had undoubtedly used the Barb 
cross to defeat his opponent, but without success, as in the 
eye and beak the signs were unmistakable; and when the 
feathers of the tail were counted, there was only the twelve 
feathers of the Barb. I have never seen this pigeon alluded 
to in any work before published, neither do I know anything 
of its origin. None of the old fanciers can tell me where 
the original stock came from. 
I am informed by Mr. Wm. Wister, our oldest fancier, 
that fifty years ago — -Methinks that some of my younger 
readers will think that fifty years is a long time to be a fan- 
cier — but I will assure them that Mr. Wister was quite a 
fancier fifty years ago, and bids fair to continue one for fifteen 
to twenty years to come. I think our friend Dr. Morgan 
will sustain me in saying that thorough fanciers seldom die 
young. Had I the space, I would like to tell my younger 
readers how much Mr. Wister has done for the fancy in 
this country during the past sixty years. I believe he was 
one of the first importers of all the varieties of Game Ban- 
tams, also of Games and many kinds of fancy pigeons, as 
well as dogs. He has never changed from his boyish fancy, 
and to-day he would drop one of his most difficult financial 
problems to admire a good Short-faced Black Mottled, or 
Almond Tumbler ; and of all the stock he has imported 
and bred in that time, I do not believe he ever sold a spec- 
imen from his yards ; but many hearts have been made glad 
by his generous gifts — the writer of this article among the 
rest. But, I am getting away from my subject. Mr. Wister 
informs me that he remembers the “ Big Eye ” well, for the 
