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Show 208 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. CHAP. VI. n body 20 inches in length, " though 17 or 18 inc:hcs is. rccko~cd a very o- od length; " and ho has seen the Jogs very nearly 7 mches m length, ~ot a 1 g G~ or Git long "must be allowed to ?o a very good. one." Mr. Bult the most successful br odor of Pouters m tho world, mforms me that' at present (Hl58) tho standard length of .the bo~y is not less than 18 mchc ·; but he hns measured one bird 19 mchos m length, and bas heard of 20 and 22 incho , but doubts tho truth of these latt r statements. Tho , tanclard length of tho leg is now 7 inches, but Mr. Bult has recently mcasmed two of his own birds with legs 7 t long. So that in the 123 years which have clap. cd since 1735 thoro l~as b on hardly any increase in tho standard length of tho body ; 17 or 18 mchos was formerly reckoned a very good length, and now 18 inches is tho minimum standar~l; b~t tho length of leg seems to have increased, as Moore neve~· saw one qmtc 7 ~nchcs long; now tho tandard is 7, and two of Mr. Bult'~ bll'ds mcasUl'cd H ~nches in length. The extremely slight improvement m Pouters, except m the length of the leg, during tho Ja. t 123 years, may be partly accounted for by tho neglect which they suffered, as I am informed by Mr. Bult, until within the last 20 or 30 ycrtrs. About 1765 38 there was a change of fashion, stouter and more feathered legs being preferred to thin and nearly naked legs. Fantaus.-Tbe first notice of tho existence of this breed is in India, before the year 1600, as given in the 'Ayecn Akbcry; ' 39 at this date, judging from Aldrovn,nd.i, tho breed was unlmown in Europe. In 1677 Willughby speaks of a Fantail with 26 tail-feathers; in 1735 Moore saw one with 36 feathers; and in 1824 MM. Boitard and Corbie assert that in France biJ.·ds can easily be found with 42 tail-fcath rs. In England, the number of the tail-feathers is not at present so much regarded as their upward dil·ection and expansion. Tho general carriage of the bird is likewise now much regarded. Tho old descriptions do not suffice to show whether in the o la.ttor respects thoro has boon much impro-.,emont; but if fantails had form rly existed with their heads and tails touching each other, as at tho present time, the fact would almost certainly have been noticed. 'l'ho Fantails which arc now f(nmd in India probably show tho state of tho race, as far as caniago i. concerned, at tho date of thou· introduction into Europe; and some, sail to have been brought from Calcutta, which I kept alive, were in a marked manner inferior to om· exhibition bil·d . Tho Java Fant.'til shows the same difference in carriage; and although Mr. Swinhoo has counted 18 and 24 tail-feathers in his birds, a :fhst-rate specimen sent to me bad only l4 tail-feathers. Jacobins.-'£his breed existed before 1600, but the hood, judging from the figmc given by Alili·ovandi, did not enclose the head nearly so perfa tly as at pre ent: nor wns tho head then white; nor wore the wings and tail so long, but this last character might have been overlooked by the rude artist. In Moore's time, in 1735, the Jacobin was considered the 3S 'A T:ren.tiso on Domestic Pigeons,' dcdic.'tteu to Mr. 1\Iayor, 1765. Preface, p. xiv. 39 Mr. Blyth has given a translation of part of the' Ayecn Akbery' in 'Annn,ls and l\Iag. of Nat. Hist.,' vol. xix., 18·17, p. 104. CHAP. VI. ITISTORY OF THE PRINCIPAL RACES. 209 smallest ldnd of pigeon, and tho bill is said to be very short. llcncc either the Jacobin, or the other kinds with which it was then compared, must have been since considerably modified; for Moore's description (and it must bo rertwmborcd that ho was a first-rate judge) is clearly not applicable, as far as size of body and length of beak arc concerned, to our present Jacobins. In 1795, judging u·om J3echstoin, tho brood had assumed its present character. 1urbits.-It has generally been supposed by the older writers on pigeons, that tho Tmbit is the Cortbcck of Alclrovandi; but if this bo tho case, it is an extraordinary fact that tho characteristic frill should not have been noti~cd. Tho beak, moreover, of the Cortbcck is described as closely resembling that of tho Jacobin, which shows a change in tho ono or the other race. Tho Turbit, with its characteristic frill and bearing its present name, is described by Willughby in 1G77 ; and the bill is said to be like that of tho bullfinch,-a good comparison, but now more strictly applicable to the beak of the Barb. Tho sub-breed called tho Owl was well known in Moore's time, in 1735. .'l'umblers.-Common Tumblers, as well as Ground Tumblers, perfect as far as tumbling is concerned, existed in India before tho year 1600; and at this period diversified modes of flight, such as flying at n:ight, the ascent to a great height, and manner of descent, seem to have been much attqndcd to, as at the present time, in India. Bolon 40 in 1555 saw in Paphlagonia what he describes as "a very new thing, viz. pigeons which flew so high in tho air that they wero lost to view, but rctmned to their pigeon-house without separating." This manner of flight is characteristic of our present Tumblers, but it is clcllr that Bolon would have mentioned the act of tumbling if the pigeons described by him had tumbled. Tumblers wore not known in Europe in 1600, as they are not mentioned by Aldrovandi, who discusses tho flight of pigeons. They are briefly alluded to by Willughby, in 1687, as small pigeons "which show like footballs in the air." The short-fuccd race did not exist at this period, ns Willughby could not have overlooked birds so remarkable for their small size and short beaks. Wo can even trace some of the stops hy which this race has been produced. Moore in 1735 enumerates correctly the chief points of excellence, but docs not give any description of the several sub-breeds; and from this fact Mr. Eaton infers 41 that the shortfaced Tumbler had not then come to full perfection. Momo oven speaks of tho J acobin as being the smallest pigeon. Thirty years afterwards, in 1765, in tho Treatise dedicated to Mayor, short-faced Almond Tumblers are fully described, but the author, an excellent fancier, expressly states in his Preface (p. xiv.) that, "from great caro and expense in breeding them, they have arrived to so great perfection and are so different from what they were 20 or 30 years pas( that an old fancier . would have condemned them for no other reason than because they are not like what used to be thought good when he was in the fancy before." 40 'L'liist. dolo. Nature des Oisco.ux,' 41 ' T:rcatiso on Pigeons,' 1852, p. p. 311. 64. W~L p |