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Show 216 DOMESTIC PIGEONS. CHAP. VI. point of structure and then anotl~er is atte~de~' to; or differ~nt breeds are admired at different times and m different countncs. As the author just quoted remarks, "the fancy ebbs and ~ows ,;, a thorough fancier now-a-days never stoops to bree~ toy-buds; yet these very "toys" are now most ca~·cfully br~d I~ Ger~any. Breeds which at the present time arc h1ghly valued m India are consid red worthless in England. No doubt, when breeds are neglected, they degenerate; still we may believe that, as long as they are kept under tho same conditions of life, characters once gained will be partially retained for a long time, and may form the starting-point for a future course of selection. · Let it not be objected to this view of the action of unconscious selection that fanciers would not ob. crve or care for extremely slight differences. Those alone who have associated with fanciers can be thoroughly aware of their accnrate p,owors of discrimination acquired by long practice, and of the care and labour which they bestow on their birds. I have known a fancier deliberately study his birds day after day to settle which to match together and which to reject. Observe how difficult the subj ct appears to one of tho most eminent and experienced fanciers. Mr. Eaton, the winner of many prizes, says, "I \voulcl here particularly guard you against keeping too great a variety of pigeons, otherwise you will know a little about all the kinds, but nothing about one as it ought to be known." "It is possible there may be a few fanciers that have a good general knowledge of the several fancy pigeons, but there are many who labour under the delusion of supposing they know what they do not." Speaking exclusively of one sub-variety of one race, namely, the hort-faced almond tumbler, and after saying that some fanciers sacrifice every property to obtain a good head . and beak, and that other fanciers sacrifice everything for plumage, he remarks: "Some young fanciers who are over covetous go in for all the five properties at once, and they have their reward by getting nothing." In India, as I hear from Mr. Blyth, pigeons are likewise selected and matched with the greatest care. But we must ~ot judge of tho slight differences which would have been valued in ancient days, by those which are now valued after the formation of many races, each with its own standard of perfection, kept uniform by our numerous CHAP. YI. MANNER OF FORMATION OF TilE CIIIEF RACES. 217 Exhibitions. The ambition of the most energetic fancier may be fully satisfied by the difficulty of excelling other fanciers in the breeds already established, without trying to form a new one. A difficulty with respect to the power of selection will perhaps already have occurred to the reader, namely, what could have led fanciers first to attempt to make such singular breeds as pouters, fantails, carriers, &c.? But it is this very difficulty which the principle of. uncon.scious selection removes. Undoubtedly no fancier ever :aid intentionally make such an attempt. All that we need suppose is that a variation occurred sufficiently marked to catch the discriminating eye of some ancient fam·ier, and then unconscious selection carried on for many generations, that is, the wish of succeeding fanciers to excel their rivals, would do the rest. In the case of the fantail we may suppose that the :first progenitor of the breed had a tail only slightly erected, as may no\Y be seen in certain runts,45 with some increase in the number of the tail-feathers, as now occasionally occurs with nuns. In tho case of tho pouter we may suppose that some bird inflated its crop a little more than other pigeons, as is now the case in a slight degree with the oosophagus of the turbit. We do not in the least know the origin of the common tumbler, but we may suppo e that a bird was born with some affection of the brain, leading it to make somersaults in the air; and the difficulty in this case is lessened, as we lmow that, before the year 1600, in India, pigeons remarkable for their diversified manner of flight were much valued, and by the order of the Emperor Akbor Khan were sedulously trained and carefully matched. In tho foregoing cases we have supposed that a sudden variation, con picuous enough to catch a fancier's eye, fir t appeared; but even this degree of abruptness in the process of variation is not necessary for tho formation of a now breed. When the same kind of pigeon has been kept pure, and has been bred during a long period by two or more fanciers, slight differences in the strain can often be recognised. 'rhus I have seen first-rate jacobins in one man's possession which certainly 4 ~ See Neumeister's figure of the Florence runt, tab. 13, in 'Daa Ganze der 'l'aubcnzucht.' |