OCR Text |
Show 162 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. C IIAP. v. Ji'antails, informs me that his cock birds often have a greater number of tail-feathers than the hens. Mr. Eaton asserts 82 that, if n cock nnd hen Tumbler were of equal merit, the hen would be worth double tho money; and as pigeons always pair, so that an equal nnm bcr of both sexes is necessary for reproduction, this seems to show that high merit is rarer in the fen1alc than in the mn.lr. J n the dcv lopmont of tho frill in Tnrbits, of the hood in .Janobins, oftho tnftin Trumpeters, of tumbling in Tumblers, thoro is no diffi renee between the males and females. I may here add a mthnr different cas , namely, the cxisten ·o in F.rancc 33 of a wine-colon red variety of tho Pouter, in which tho malo is generally chcqncrod with black, whilst the female is never so chcqnerod. Dr. Chapuis also r marks34 that in certain light-coloured pigeons the males have their feathers striated with black, and these . tri ro increase in siz at each moult, so that tho male ultimately becomes spotted with black vVith Carriers, tho wattle, both on tho beak and round the eyes, and with Barbs that round tho eyes, goes on increasing with age. 'fhis augmentation of character with advancing age, and more especially the difference Lrtw en tho males and females in the above-mentioned several respects, arc highly remarkable facts, for there is no sensible difference at any ago between the two sexes in the aboriginal rock-pigeon; and rarely any such difference throughout the whole family of the Columbidre.35 Osteological Characters. ] n tho skeletons of tho various breeds there is much variability; an(l though certain differences occur frequently, and others rarely, in certain broods, yet none can be said to Lo absolutely characteristic of any breed. Considering that stronglymarked domestic races have been formed chiefly by man's power 32 A 'frcatiso, &c., p. 10. :JJ 13oitu nl and Om·bic, 'Los Pigeons,' &c., 182 f, p. 173. :H 'Lc Pigeon Voyageur Dolgo,' 1865, p. 7. :Iii Prof. A. Newton (' Proc. Zoolog. Soc.,' 18G5, p. 71G) remarks that ho knows no species which presents any remarkable sexual distin ction; but it is statc<l (' Naturn.list's Librn.ry, Rirds,' vol. ix. p. 117) that t l10 excrescence at the baso of tho beak in tho Carpophaga oceanica is sexual ; this, if correct, is an interesting point of mmlogy with the male Carrier, which has tho wattle at tho base of its beak so much more developed than in t ho f 'malo. Mr. Wallace informs mo that i11 tho sub-family of the Treronidre the soxos often differ in vividnosd of colour. CIIAP. v. OSTEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES. 163 of selection, we ought not to expect to find great and constant differences in the skeleton; for fan ciers can neither see, nor do they care for, modifications of structure in the internal fi·amewoi: k. Nor ought we to expect changes in the skeletons from changed habits of life ; as every facility is given to the most distinct breeds to follow the same habits, and tho much modified races arc never allowed to wander abroad and procnrc their own food in various ways. Moreover, I find, on comparing tho skeletons of Columba livia, cenas, palumbus~ and turtur, which are .ranked by all systematists in two or throe distinct though allied g~nera, that the differences arc extremely slight, certainly less than between tho skeletons of some of the most distinct domestic c breeds. How far the skeleton of the wild rook-pigeon is constant I have no means of judging, as I have examined only two. 87cull. - Tho individual bones, especially those at the base, do not differ in shape. But tho wholo skull, in its proportions, outline, and relative direcD A B • Fig. 24.-Skulls of Pigeons, viewed laterally, of natural size. A. Wild Rock-pigeon, Columba livia. .B. Sbort-faced Tumbler. C. English Carrier. D. Bugadottcn Carrier. tion of tho bonos, differs greatly in some of the breeds, as may be soon by comparing tho figures of (A) tho wild rock-pigeon, (n) the short- M2 |