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Show DOMESTIC PIGEONS. CnAP. V. 138 1 ·ts crop is fully inflated, Snb-mcc /.- Tho improved English Ponto~]: 1~:~it of slightly inflating presents a truly astonishing appo~ran~o~ons but is carried to an oxtromo. tho crop i.• common to all domestic p ~ .. 'oxce t in size, from that or in tho Pouter. Tho crop doc~ not dJ~o~, d ·by pan oblique conf.;truction other pigeons; but is less pl~mly scp~r:h~ upper part of the cesophagus from tho ccsophagus. Tho dmmct~r od Tho beak in ono bird which I l·s immense oven close up to tho 10~ a' J en tho oosophagus was fully ' 1 tcly bune W 1 l1osscsscd was almost comp. citod pout more than tho fcma1 c s, expanded. Tho males, o~p.ccmll~ when e~ If 'n, bird will not, to usc the and they glory in oxcrCJsmg this pfow~r .. as I have witnessed, by taking technical expressiO. n, "ph•t y'" tho . ancwrW, , a balloon. and the b.n · d ' the n tho beak into Ju·s mou tl 11ows hliD up w ' · l, ) ·a t. t about retaining his magmficont pnJrcd up with wind and pn. 0~f~~u~m fligl;t w.ith their crops inflated; size as long as he can .. PoutCls 11 d a good meal of peas and water, n,n l after one of roy buds J;ad swathowc and thus feed his nearly fledged as he flow up m· or· dcr to cl1sg. otrtglien ionm h is inflated crop as I·f m· a bl a cld OI·. ycung, I have hoard the pc~s rah b g k of their wings together, and thus When flying, they often strike t o ac s make a clapping noise. .· ht and their bodies arc thin and Pouters stand remarkab-ly up~lg.., ' • f body tho ribs arc generally . with thiS 10rm 0 ' · elongated. In con~cx:on . numerous than in other breeds. From thou· broader and the vertcbr~ more . 1 O'er than they really arc, though, manner of stand.ing thmr l~g~ ~p~ca~hco~~g. and feet arc actually longer. in proportion with those o C .a;~~~'but by measurement, in relation to tho The wings appear ~u.ch elon11 c~c The beak likewise appears longer, length of body, th1s ~'l not t .0 r (about .03 of an inch), proportionally but it is in fact a httlo shordtc l ti l to the beak of tho rock-pigeon. . · f tl body an re a vc Y < • with the size o 10 ' . JarO'c bird· I measured one whwh was The Pouter, thou~h not .bull?, ~s a d 19 indhcs from tip of beak to end 34.~ inches from. tlp to tiJ? .o wfJ~g, a~J Shetland Islands the Ramo mea- (. t 'I In a wJld rock-pigeon rom 10 . t' - f' th osu rcaml.c nts gave only 28-!. and 14•3. There arc many sub-vane lOS o c Pouter of clif.f 'crcnt colours, but thcs? I pass ovtor.bc tho parent-form of our Sub-race 11. D u tc7 ~ 1' ou te'r ·- Th.is seem. s o I • t that they were . p t . I kept a palr, but suspoc < improved ~nghsh ou or~. . llcr than English pouters, and less well not puro b.ucls. Tb~y alrc. smt a. N eurooistcr 7 says that the wings are developed m all thOlr c 1arac crs. ·t h t .1 d do not roach to its cxtroro1 Y· CTossed overt e ;~ ' an. ' . I know this breed only from closcrip- Sub-race 1 Il · '1 he L~lle 1 oute? .- Pouter but tho inflated tion.s It approaches in gcn~ral f?rm tho ?~~~h i con had Rwallowccl a cesophagus ass~cs a Rp~oncal {~rm~l~~c:.ftho h!l~. This inflated ball is largo orange, whJCh had stuck clo~o 1 c· tl 11cacl Tho miclcUo · · t 1 cl w1th tho crown o ,1e L • represented as n mg o a o~ f this sub-race called the claquant, is do-too alone is foathor~d. A var0wt~b?6 .. ~ t but little and is chamctoriscd scribed by MM. Bmtarcl and or 1 ' 1 pou s ' 7 • Das Gftnzc tlor 'l'nubonzncht :' Wr inmr, 1837, pl. 11 and 12. s Boitnrd n.n<l Corbic, ' Lrs Pigeons,' &c .. p. 177, pl. 0. CIIAP, v. DESCRIPTION OF BREEDS. 139 by tho habit of violently hitting its wings together over its back,-a habit which tho English Pouter has in a slight dcgl'ec. Sub-?·ace IV. Common German Poute?·.-I know this bird only from the figures and description given by tho accurate Neumeister, one of tho few writers on pigeons who, as I have found, may be always trusted. This sub-mco seems considerably different. Tho upper part of the aJsophn,gus is much lc. s distended. The bird stands less upright. Tho feet arc not feathered, and tho legs and beak arc shorter. In these respects thoro is an approach in form to the common rock-pigeon. The tail-feathers arc very long, yet tho tips of tho clo ·ed wings oxtond beyond tho end of the tail; and tho length of tho wings, from tip to tip, and of tho body, is greater than in tho English Pouter. GROUP II. This group includes three Races, namely, Carriers, Runts, and Barbs, which are manifestly allied to each other. Indeed, certain carriers and runts pass into each other by such insensible gradations that an arbitrary line has to be drawn between them. Carriers also graduate through foreign breeds into the rockpigeon. Yet, if well-characterised Carriers and B~rbs (see figs. 19 and 20) had existed as wild species, no ornithologist would have placed them in the same genus with each other or with the rock-pigeon. This group may, as a general rule, be recognised by the beak being long, with the skin over tho nostrils swollen and often carunculated or wattled, and with that round the eyes bare and likewise carunculated. The mouth is very wide, and the feet arc large. N evortheless tho Barb, which must be classed in this same group, has a very short beak, and Rome runts have very little bare skin round their eyrR. RACE II.-CARRIERS. (Tiirkische Taube: Pigeons Tmcs: Dragons.) Beale elongated, narrow, pointed; eyes surrounded by much naked, generally carunculated slcin ; neck and body elongated. Sub-race I. 'l'he En,qlislt Garn:er.-This is a fine bird, of largo size, close fcathorccl, generally dark-coloured, with an elongated neck. Tho beak is attenuated and of wonderful ~ength: in one specimen it was 1·4 inch in length from the feathered base to the tip ; therefore nearly twice ns long as that of the rook-pigeon, which measured only ·77. \Vhcnovcr I compare proportionally any part in the carrier and rock-pigeon, I take tho length of the body from the base of the beak to the end of the tail as tho standard of comparison; and according to this standard, tho beak in orie |