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Show 154 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. CnAr. V. this is the breed seen by IIassolquist in 1757 at Cairo, and said to have boon imported from India. RACE IX.-JACOBIN. (Zopf or Periicken-Taube: Nonnains.) Feathers of the neclc forming a hood ; wings and tail long ). bealc moderately short. This pigeon can at once be recognised by its hood, almost enclosing tho head and mooting in front of the neck. Tho hood seems to bo merely an exaggeration of tho crest of reversed feathers on tho back of tho head, which is common to many sub-vn.riotios, and which in tho Latz-taube 20 is in a nearly intermediate state between a hood and a crest. Tho feathers of tho hood are elongated. Both tho ·w:ings and t.'til arc likewise much elongated; thus tho folded w:ing of tho Jacobin, though a somewl1at smaller bird, is fully U inch longer than in tho rock-pigeon. Taking the length of tho body without tho tail as the standard of comparison, the folded wing, proportionally with the wings of the rock-pigeon, is 2! inches too long, and tho two wings, from tip to tip, 5J inches too long. In disposition this bird is singularly quiet, seldom flying or moving about, as Bechstoin and Riedel have likewise remarked in Gormany.21 Tho latter author also notices the length of tho wings and tail. Tho beak is nearly ·2 of an inch shorter in proportion to tho size of tho body than in tho rockpigeon; but tho internal gape of the mouth is considerably wider. GROUP IV. The birds of this group may be characterised by their resemblance in all important points of structure, especially in the beak, to tho rock-pigeon. The Trumpeter forms the only wellmarked raco. Of the numerous other sub-races and varieties I shall specify only a few of tho most distinct, which I have myself seen and kept alive. RACE X.-TRUMPETER. (Trommel-Taube; Pigeon tambour; glougou.) A tuft of feathers at the base of the bealc curling forward; feet m.uch feathered ). voice very peculiar; size exceeding that of the roclcp~ geon. This is a wc~l-markcd breed, with a peculiar voice, wholly unlike that of any other plgcon. The coo is rapidly repeated, and is continued for 20 N cumcistcr, ' Taubcnzucht,' Tab. 4, fig. i. ~ 1 Rirdrl, 'Die 'I'nubenzncld.,' 1824, s. 2G. Bcchstein, ' Naturgeschichto Drutschlancls,' Band iv. s. 36, 1795. CJJAP, V. DESCRil)TION OF BREEDS. 155 several minutes; hence their name of Tr'Umpotcrs. They arc also characterised by a tuft of elongated feathers, which curls forward over tho base of tho beak, and which is possessed by no other breed. 'l'heir feet aro so heavily feathered, that they almost appear like little wingr.;. 'l'hoy arc larger bi.J:ds than the rock-pigeon, but their beak is of very nearly tho same proportional size. Their feet are rather small. This breed was perfectly characterised in Moore's time, in 1735. Mr. Brent says that two varieties o:;ist, which differ in size. • RACE XI.-Scarcely differing in structure from the wild Columba livia. 8~tb-race 1. Lau.r;hers. Size less than the Rock-pigeon; voice very peculiat·. -AE this bird agrees in nearly all its proportions with the rock-pigeon, though of smaller size, I should not have thought it worthy of mention, bad it not been for its peculiar voice-a character supposed seldom to vary with birds. Although the voice of the Laugher is very different from that of the Trumpeter, yet ono of my Trumpeters used to utter a single note like that of the Laugher. I have kept two varieties of I .. aughors, which differed only in one variety being turn-cro,vned; tho smooth-headed kind, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Brent, besides its peculiar note, used to coo in a singular and pleasing manner, which, independently, struck . both Mr. Brent and myself as resembling that of tho turtle-dove. Both varieties como from .Arabia. This breed was known by Moore in 1735. A pigeon which seems to say Yak-roo is mentioned in 1600 in tho 'Ayeen Al\:bery,' and is probably the same brood. Sir W. Elliot has also sent me from Madras a pigeon called Yahui, said to have como from Mecca, which does not differ in appearance from tho Laugher; it has "a deep melancholy voice, like Yahu, often repeated." Yahu, yahu, means Oh God, Oh God; and Sayzid Mohammed Musari, in the treatise written about 100 years ago, says that those birds "arc not flown, because they repeat the name of the Most High God." Mr. Keith Abbott, however, informs me that the common pigeon is called Yahoo in Persia. Sub-nwe II. Common Frill-baclc (Die Strupp-Taube). Beale rather longer than in the Roclc-pigeon; f eathers t·evet·sed.-This is a considerably larger bird than the rock-pigeon, and with tho beak, proportionally with tho size of body, a little (viz. by ·04 of an inch) longer. The feathers, especially on tho wing-coverts, have thei.J.· points curled upwards or backwards. Sub-race III. Nuns (Pigcons-coquilles).-Thcse elegant bi.J.·ds arc smaller than the rock-pigeon. Tho beak is actually ·17, and proportionally with tho size of the body ·1 of an inch shorter than in the rock-pigeons, although of the same thickness. In yotmg birds the scutcllre on the tarsi and toes are generally of a leaden-black colom·; and this is a remarkable chamcter (though observed in a lesser degree in some other breeds), as tho colour ot tho logs in tho adult state is subject to very little variation in any breed. I have on two or tbJ:ee occasions counted thirteen or fourteen feathers in the tail; this likewise occurs in the barely distinct breed called Helmets. |