DOMESTIC PIGEONS.
ENUMERATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL BREEDS.
INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY.
VARIATIONS OF A REMARKABLE NATURE.
OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS: SKULL, LOWER JAW, NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE.
CORRELATION OF GROWTH: TONGUE WITH BEAK; EYELIDS AND NOSTRILS WITH WATTLED
SKIN.
NUMBER OF WING-FEATHERS, AND LENGTH OF WING.
COLOUR AND DOWN.
WEBBED AND FEATHERED FEET.
ON THE EFFECTS OF DISUSE.
LENGTH OF FEET IN CORRELATION WITH LENGTH OF BEAK.
LENGTH OF STERNUM, SCAPULA, AND FURCULUM.
LENGTH OF WINGS.
SUMMARY ON THE POINTS OF DIFFERENCE IN THE SEVERAL BREEDS.
I have been led to study domestic pigeons with particular care, because the
evidence that all the domestic races are descended from one known source is
far clearer than with any other anciently domesticated animal. Secondly,
because many treatises in several languages, some of them old, have been
written on the pigeon, so that we are enabled to trace the history of
several breeds. And lastly, because, from causes which we can partly
understand, the amount of variation has been extraordinarily great. The
details will often be tediously minute; but no one who really wants to
understand the progress of change in domestic animals, and especially no
one who has kept pigeons and has marked the great difference between the
breeds and the trueness with which most of them propagate their kind, will
doubt that this minuteness is worth while. Notwithstanding the clear
evidence that all the breeds are the descendants of a single species, I
could not persuade myself until some years had passed that the whole amount
of difference between them, had arisen since man first domesticated the
wild rock-pigeon.
I have kept alive all the most distinct breeds, which I could procure in
England or from the Continent; and have prepared skeletons of all. I have
received skins from Persia, and a large number from India and other
quarters of the world. (5/1. The Hon. C. Murray has sent me some very
valuable specimens from Persia; and H.M. Consul, Mr. Keith Abbott, has
given me information on the pigeons of the same country. I am deeply
indebted to Sir Walter Elliot for an immense collection of skins from
Madras, with much information regarding them. Mr. Blyth has freely
communicated to me his stores of knowledge on this and all other related
subjects. The Rajah Sir James Brooke sent me specimens from Borneo, as has
H.M. Consul, Mr. Swinhoe, from Amoy in China, and Dr. Daniell from the west
coast of Africa.) Since my admission into two of the London pigeon-clubs, I
have received the kindest assistance from many of the most eminent
amateurs. (5/2. Mr. B.P. Brent, well known for his various contributions to
poultry literature, has aided me in every way during several years: so has
Mr. Tegetmeier, with unwearied kindness. This latter gentleman, who is well
known for his works on poultry, and who has largely bred pigeons, has
looked over this and the following chapters. Mr. Bult formerly showed me
his unrivalled collection of Pouters, and gave me specimens. I had access
to Mr. Wicking's collection, which contained a greater assortment of kinds
than could anywhere else be seen; and he has always aided me with specimens
and information given in the freest manner. Mr. Haynes and Mr. Corker have
given me specimens of their magnificent Carriers. To Mr. Harrison Weir I am
likewise indebted. Nor must I by any means pass over the assistance
received from Mr. J.M. Eaton, Mr. Baker, Mr. Evans, and Mr. J. Baily, jun.,
of Mount-street--to the latter gentleman I have been indebted for some
valuable specimens. To all these gentlemen I beg permission to return my
sincere and cordial thanks.)
The races of the Pigeon which can be distinguished, and which breed true,
are very numerous. MM. Boitard and Corbie (5/3. 'Les Pigeons de Voliere et
de Colombier' Paris 1824. During forty-five years the sole occupation of M.
Corbie was the care of the pigeons belonging to the Duchess of Berry.
Bonizzi has described a large number of coloured varieties in Italy: 'Le
variazioni dei colombi Domestici' Padova 1873.) describe in detail 122
kinds; and I could add several European kinds not known to them. In India,
judging from the skins sent me, there are many breeds unknown here; and Sir
W. Elliot informs me that a collection imported by an Indian merchant into
Madras from Cairo and Constantinople included several kinds unknown in
India. I have no doubt that there exist considerably above 150 kinds which
breed true and have been separately named. But of these the far greater
number differ from each other only in unimportant characters. Such
differences will be here entirely passed over, and I shall confine myself
to the more important points of structure. That many important differences
exist we shall presently see. I have looked through the magnificent
collection of the Columbidae in the British Museum, and, with the exception
of a few forms (such as the Didunculus, Calaenas, Goura, etc.), I do not
hesitate to affirm that some domestic races of the rock-pigeon differ fully
as much from each other in external characters as do the most distinct
natural genera. We may look in vain through the 288 known species (5/4.
'Coup d'Oeil sur l'Ordre des Pigeons' par Prince C.L. Bonaparte, Paris
1855. This author makes 288 species, ranked under 85 genera.) for a beak so
small and conical as that of the short-faced tumbler; for one so broad and
short as that of the barb; for one so long, straight, and narrow, with its
enormous wattles, as that of the English carrier; for an expanded upraised
tail like that of the fantail; or for an oesophagus like that of the
pouter. I do not for a moment pretend that the domestic races differ from
each other in their whole organisation as much as the more distinct natural
genera. I refer only to external characters, on which, however, it must be
confessed that most genera of birds have been founded. When, in a future
chapter, we discuss the principle of selection as followed by man, we shall
clearly see why the differences between the domestic races are almost
always confined to external, or at least to externally visible, characters.
Owing to the amount and gradations of difference between the several
breeds, I have found it indispensable in the following classification to
rank them under Groups, Races, and Sub-races; to which varieties and sub-
varieties, all strictly inheriting their proper characters, must often be
added. Even with the individuals of the same sub-variety, when long kept by
different fanciers, different strains can sometimes be recognised. There
can be no doubt that, if well-characterised forms of the several races had
been found wild, all would have been ranked as distinct species, and
several of them would certainly have been placed by ornithologists in
distinct genera. A good classification of the various domestic breeds is
extremely difficult, owing to the manner in which many of the forms
graduate into each other; but it is curious how exactly the same
difficulties are encountered, and the same rules have to be followed, as in
the classification of any natural but difficult group of organic beings. An
"artificial classification" might be followed which would present fewer
difficulties than a "natural classification;" but then it would interrupt
many plain affinities. Extreme forms can readily be defined; but
intermediate and troublesome forms often destroy our definitions. Forms
which may be called "aberrant" must sometimes be included within groups to
which they do not accurately belong. Characters of all kinds must be used;
but as with birds in a state of nature, those afforded by the beak are the
best and most readily appreciated. It is not possible to weigh the
importance of all the characters which have to be used so as to make the
groups and sub-groups of equal value. Lastly, a group may contain only one
race, and another and less distinctly defined group may contain several
races and sub-races, and in this case it is difficult, as in the
classification of natural species, to avoid placing too high a value on the
number of forms which a group may contain.
In my measurements I have never trusted to the eye; and when speaking of a
part being large or small, I always refer to the wild rock-pigeon (Columba
livia) as the standard of comparison. The measurements are given in
decimals of an inch.
(5/5. As I so often refer to the size of the C. livia, or rock-pigeon, it
may be convenient to give the mean between the measurements of two wild
birds, kindly sent me by Dr. Edmondstone from the Shetland Islands.
LENGTH IN INCHES:
From feathered base of beak to end of tail: 14.25
From feathered base of beak to oil-gland: 9.5
From tip of beak to end of tail: 15.02
Of tail-feathers: 4.62
From tip to tip of wing: 26.75
Of folded wing: 9.25
Beak.--Length from tip of beak to feathered base: .77
Beak.--Thickness, measured vertically at distal end of nostrils: .23
Beak.--Breadth, measured at same place: .16
Feet.--From end of middle toe (without claw) to distal end of tibia: 2.77
Feet.--From end of middle toe to end of hind toe (without claws): 2.02
WEIGHT: 14 1/4 ounces.)
(FIGURE 17. THE ROCK PIGEON, or Columba livia. The parent-form of all
domesticated Pigeons. (5/6. This drawing was made from a dead bird. The six
following figures were drawn with great care by Mr. Luke Wells from living
birds selected by Mr. Tegetmeier. It may be confidently asserted that the
characters of the six breeds which have been figured are not in the least
exaggerated.))
DIAGRAM 1. DOMESTIC PIGEONS.
Columba livia or ROCK-PIGEON--
--GROUP I.--(SUB-GROUP (RACE) 1.)--German P.
--Lille P.--
--Dutch P.
--ENGLISH POUTER.
--GROUP II.--(SUB-GROUPS (RACES) 2, 3, 4.)--Kali-Par--Bussora--
--Murassa.
--Dragon--ENGLISH CARRIER.
--Bagadotten--Scanderoon--Pigeon Cygne--RUNT.
--TRONFO.
--BARB.
--GROUP III.--(SUB-GROUPS (RACES) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.)--
--Java Fantail--FANTAIL
--Turbit--AFRICAN OWL.
--Persian Tumbler--Lotan Tumbler--Common Tumbler--SHORT-FACED TUMBLER.
--INDIAN FRILL-BACK.
--JACOBIN.
--GROUP IV.--(SUB-GROUPS (RACES) 10, 11.)--
--TRUMPETER.
--LAUGHER.
--ENGLISH FRILL-BACK.
--NUN.
--SPOT.
--SWALLOW.
--DOVECOTE PIGEON.
I will now give a brief description of all the principal breeds. Diagram 1.
may aid the reader in learning their names and seeing their affinities. The
rock-pigeon, or Columba livia (including under this name two or three
closely-allied sub-species or geographical races, hereafter to be
described), may be confidently viewed, as we shall see in the next chapter,
as the common parent-form. The names in italics on the right-hand side of
the page show us the most distinct breeds, or those which have undergone
the greatest amount of modification. The lengths of the dotted lines rudely
represent the degree of distinctness of each breed from the parent-stock,
and the names placed under each other in the columns show the more or less
closely connecting links. The distances of the dotted lines from each other
approximately represent the amount of difference between the several
breeds.
(FIGURE 18. ENGLISH POUTER.)
GROUP I.
This group includes a single race, that of the Pouters. If the most
strongly marked sub-race be taken, namely, the Improved English Pouter,
this is perhaps the most distinct of all domesticated pigeons.
RACE I. POUTER PIGEONS. (KROPFTAUBEN, GERMAN. GROSSES-GORGES, OR BOULANS,
FRENCH.)
Oesophagus of great size, barely separated from the crop, often inflated.
Body and legs elongated. Beak of moderate dimensions.
[SUB-RACE 1/I.
The improved English Pouter, when its crop is fully inflated, presents a
truly astonishing appearance. The habit of slightly inflating the crop is
common to all domestic pigeons, but is carried to an extreme in the Pouter.
The crop does not differ, except in size, from that of other pigeons; but
is less plainly separated by an oblique constriction from the oesophagus.
The diameter of the upper part of the oesophagus is immense, even close up
to the head. The beak in one bird which I possessed was almost completely
buried when the oesophagus was fully expanded. The males, especially when
excited, pout more than the females, and they glory in exercising this
power. If a bird will not, to use the technical expression, "play," the
fancier, as I have witnessed, by taking the beak into his mouth, blows him
up like a balloon; and the bird, then puffed up with wind and pride, struts
about, retaining his magnificent size as long as he can. Pouters often take
flight with their crops inflated. After one of my birds had swallowed a
good meal of peas and water, as he flew up in order to disgorge them and
feed his nearly fledged young, I heard the peas rattling in his inflated
crop as if in a bladder. When flying, they often strike the backs of their
wings together, and thus make a clapping noise.
Pouters stand remarkably upright, and their bodies are thin and elongated.
In connexion with this form of body, the ribs are generally broader and the
vertebrae more numerous than in other breeds. From their manner of standing
their legs appear longer than they really are, though, in proportion with
those of C. livia, the legs and feet are actually longer. The wings appear
much elongated, but by measurement, in relation to the length of body, this
is not the case. The beak likewise appears longer, but it is in fact a
little shorter (about .O3 of an inch), proportionally with the size of the
body, and relatively to the beak of the rock-pigeon. The Pouter, though not
bulky, is a large bird; I measured one which was 34 1/2 inches from tip to
tip of wing, and 19 inches from tip of beak to end of tail. In a wild rock-
pigeon from the Shetland Islands the same measurements gave only 28 1/4 and
14 3/4. There are many sub-varieties of the Pouter of different colours,
but these I pass over.
SUB-RACE 1/II. DUTCH POUTER.
This seems to be the parent-form of our improved English Pouters. I kept a
pair, but I suspect that they were not pure birds. They are smaller than
English pouters, and less well developed in all their characters.
Neumeister (5/7. 'Das Ganze der Taubenzucht' Weimar 1837 pl. 11 and 12.)
says that the wings are crossed over the tail, and do not reach to its
extremity.
SUB-RACE 1/III. THE LILLE POUTER.
I know this breed only from description. (5/8. Boitard and Corbie 'Les
Pigeons' etc. page 177 pl. 6.) It approaches in general form the Dutch
Pouter, but the inflated oesophagus assumes a spherical form, as if the
pigeon had swallowed a large orange, which had stuck close under the beak.
This inflated ball is represented as rising to a level with the crown of
the head. The middle toe alone is feathered. A variety of this sub-race,
called the claquant, is described by MM. Boitard and Corbie; it pouts but
little, and is characterised by the habit of violently hitting its wings
together over its back,--a habit which the English Pouter has in a slight
degree.
SUB-RACE 1/IV. COMMON GERMAN POUTER.
I know this bird only from the figures and description given by the
accurate Neumeister, one of the few writers on pigeons who, as I have
found, may always be trusted. This sub-race seems considerably different.
The upper part of the oesophagus is much less distended. The bird stands
less upright. The feet are not feathered, and the legs and beak are
shorter. In these respects there is an approach in form to the common rock-
pigeon. The tail-feathers are very long, yet the tips of the closed wings
extend beyond the end of the tail; and the length of the wings, from tip to
tip, and of the body, is greater than in the English Pouter.]
(FIGURE 19. ENGLISH CARRIER.)
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 rock-pigeon. Yet, if well-characterised Carriers and Barbs (see
figures 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 the 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 are large. Nevertheless the Barb, which must be classed
in this same group, has a very short beak, and some runts have very little
bare skin round their eyes.
RACE II. CARRIERS. (TURKISCHE TAUBEN; PIGEONS TURCS, DRAGONS.)
Beak elongated, narrow, pointed; eyes surrounded by much naked, generally
carunculated, skin; neck and body elongated.
[SUB-RACE 2/I. THE ENGLISH CARRIER.
[This is a fine bird, of large size, close feathered, generally dark-
coloured, with an elongated neck. The beak is attenuated and of wonderful
length: in one specimen it was 1.4 inch in length from the feathered base
to the tip; therefore nearly twice as long as that of the rock-pigeon,
which measured only .77. Whenever I compare proportionally any part in the
carrier and rock-pigeon, I take the length of the body from the base of the
beak to the end of the tail as the standard of comparison; and according to
this standard, the beak in one Carrier was nearly half an inch longer than
in the rock-pigeon. The upper mandible is often slightly arched. The tongue
is very long. The development of the carunculated skin or wattle round the
eyes, over the nostrils, and on the lower mandible, is prodigious. The
eyelids, measured longitudinally, were in some specimens exactly twice as
long as in the rock-pigeon. The external orifice or furrow of the nostrils
was also twice as long. The open mouth in its widest part was in one case
.75 of an inch in width, whereas in the rock-pigeon it is only about .4 of
an inch. This great width of mouth is shown in the skeleton by the reflexed
edges of the ramus of the lower jaw. The head is flat on the summit and
narrow between the orbits. The feet are large and coarse; the length, as
measured from end of hind toe to end of middle toe (without the claws), was
in two specimens 2.6 inches; and this, proportionally with the rock-pigeon,
is an excess of nearly a quarter of an inch. One very fine Carrier measured
31 1/2 inches from tip to tip of wing. Birds of this sub-race are too
valuable to be flown as carriers.]
SUB-RACE 2/II. DRAGONS; PERSIAN CARRIERS.
[The English Dragon differs from the improved English Carrier in being
smaller in all its dimensions, and in having less wattle round the eyes and
over the nostrils, and none on the lower mandible. Sir W. Elliot sent me
from Madras a Bagdad Carrier (sometimes called khandesi), the name of which
shows its Persian origin: it would be considered here a very poor Dragon;
the body was of the size of the rock-pigeon, with the beak a little longer,
namely, 1 inch from the tip to the feathered base. The skin round the eyes
was only slightly wattled, whilst that over the nostrils was fairly
wattled. The Hon. C. Murray, also, sent me two Carriers direct from Persia;
these had nearly the same character as the Madras bird, being about as
large as the rock-pigeon, but the beak in one specimen was as much as 1.15
in length; the skin over the nostrils was only moderately, and that round
the eyes scarcely at all wattled.]
SUB-RACE 2/III. BAGADOTTEN-TAUBEN OF NEUMEISTER (PAVDOTTEN- OR HOCKER-
TAUBEN).
[I owe to the kindness of Mr. Baily, jun., a dead specimen of this singular
breed imported from Germany. It is certainly allied to the Runts;
nevertheless, from its close affinity with Carriers, it will be convenient
here to describe it. The beak is long, and is hooked or bowed downwards in
a highly remarkable manner, as will be seen in figure 24.D. when I treat of
the skeleton. The eyes are surrounded by a wide space of bright red skin,
which, as well as that over the nostrils, is moderately wattled. The
breast-bone is remarkably protuberant, being abruptly bowed outwards. The
feet and tarsi are of great length, larger than in first-rate English
Carriers. The whole bird is of large size, but in proportion to the size of
the body the feathers of the wing and tail are short; a wild rock-pigeon,
of considerably less size, had tail-feathers 4.6 inches in length, whereas
in the large Bagadotten these feathers were scarcely over 4.1 inches in
length. Riedel (5/9. 'Die Taubenzucht' Ulm 1824 s. 42.) remarks that it is
a very silent bird.]
SUB-RACE 2/IV. BUSSORAH CARRIER.
[Two specimens were sent me by Sir W. Elliot from Madras, one in spirits
and the other skinned. The name shows its Persian origin. It is much valued
in India, and is considered as a distinct breed from the Bagdad Carrier,
which forms my second sub-race. At first I suspected that these two sub-
races might have been recently formed by crosses with other breeds, though
the estimation in which they are held renders this improbable; but in a
Persian treatise (5/10. This treatise was written by Sayzid Mohammed
Musari, who died in 1770: I owe to the great kindness of Sir W. Elliot a
translation of this curious treatise.), believed to have been written about
100 years ago, the Bagdad and Bussorah breeds are described as distinct.
The Bussorah Carrier is of about the same size as the wild rock-pigeon. The
shape of the beak, with some little carunculated skin over the nostrils,--
the much elongated eyelids,--the broad mouth measured internally,--the
narrow head,--the feet proportionally a little longer than in the rock-
pigeon,--and the general appearance, all show that this bird is an
undoubted Carrier; yet in one specimen the beak was of exactly the same
length as in the rock-pigeon. In the other specimen the beak (as well as
the opening of the nostrils) was only a very little longer, viz., by .08 of
an inch. Although there was a considerable space of bare and slightly
carunculated skin round the eyes, that over the nostrils was only in a
slight degree rugose. Sir W. Elliot informs me that in the living bird the
eye seems remarkably large and prominent, and the same fact is noticed in
the Persian treatise; but the bony orbit is barely larger than that in the
rock-pigeon.
Amongst the several breeds sent to me from Madras by Sir W. Elliot there is
a pair of the Kali Par, black birds with the beak slightly elongated, with
the skin over the nostrils rather full, and with a little naked skin round
the eyes. This breed seems more closely allied to the Carrier than to any
other breed, being nearly intermediate between the Bussorah Carrier and the
rock-pigeon.
The names applied in different parts of Europe and in India to the several
kinds of Carriers all point to Persia or the surrounding countries as the
source of this Race. And it deserves especial notice that, even if we
neglect the Kali Par as of doubtful origin, we get a series broken by very
small steps, from the rock-pigeon, through the Bussorah, which sometimes
has a beak not at all longer than that of the rock-pigeon and with the
naked skin round the eyes and over the nostrils very slightly swollen and
carunculated, through the Bagdad sub-race and Dragons, to our improved
English Carriers, which present so marvellous a difference from the rock-
pigeon or Columba livia.]
RACE III. RUNTS. (SCANDEROONS: DIE FLORENTINER TAUBEN AND HINKELTAUBEN OF
NEUMEISTER; PIGEON BAGADAIS, PIGEON ROMAIN.)
Beak long, massive; body of great size.
[Inextricable confusion reigns in the classification, affinities, and
naming of Runts. Several characters which are generally pretty constant in
other pigeons, such as the length of the wings, tail, legs, and neck, and
the amount of naked skin round the eyes, are excessively variable in Runts.
When the naked skin over the nostrils and round the eyes is considerably
developed and wattled, and when the size of body is not very great, Runts
graduate in so insensible a manner into Carriers, that the distinction is
quite arbitrary. This fact is likewise shown by the names given to them in
different parts of Europe. Nevertheless, taking the most distinct forms, at
least five sub-races (some of them including well-marked varieties) can be
distinguished, which differ in such important points of structure, that
they would be considered as good species in a state of nature.]
SUB-RACE 3/I. SCANDEROON OF ENGLISH WRITERS (DIE FLORENTINER AND
HINKELTAUBEN OF NEUMEISTER).
[Birds of this sub-race, of which I kept one alive and have since seen two
others, differ from the Bagadotten of Neumeister only in not having the
beak nearly so much curved downwards, and in the naked skin round the eyes
and over the nostrils being hardly at all wattled. Nevertheless I have felt
myself compelled to place the Bagadotten in Race II., or that of the
Carriers, and the present bird in Race III., or that of the Runts. The
Scanderoon has a very short, narrow, and elevated tail; wings extremely
short, so that the first primary feathers were not longer than those of a
small tumbler pigeon! Neck long, much bowed; breast-bone prominent. Beak
long, being 1.15 inch from tip to feathered base; vertically thick;
slightly curved downwards. The skin over the nostrils swollen, not wattled;
naked skin round the eyes, broad, slightly carunculated. Legs long; feet
very large. Skin of neck bright red, often showing a naked medial line,
with a naked red patch at the distal end of the radius of the wing. My
bird, as measured from the base of the beak to the root of the tail, was
fully 2 inches longer than the rock-pigeon; yet the tail itself was only 4
inches in length, whereas in the rock-pigeon, which is a much smaller bird,
the tail is 4 5/8 inches in length.
The Hinkel- or Florentiner Taube of Neumeister (Table 13 figure 1) agrees
with the above description in all the specified characters (for the beak is
not mentioned), except that Neumeister expressly says that the neck is
short, whereas in my Scanderoon it was remarkably long and bowed; so that
the Hinkel forms a well-marked variety.]
SUB-RACE 3/II. PIGEON CYGNE AND PIGEON BAGADAIS OF BOITARD AND CORBIE
(SCANDEROON OF FRENCH WRITERS).
[I kept two of these birds alive, imported from France. They differed from
the first sub-race or true Scanderoon in the much greater length of the
wing and tail, in the beak not being so long, and in the skin about the
head being more carunculated. The skin of the neck is red; but the naked
patches on the wings are absent. One of my birds measured 38 1/2 inches
from tip to tip of wing. By taking the length of the body as the standard
of comparison, the two wings were no less than 5 inches longer than those
of the rock-pigeon! The tail was 6 1/4 inches in length, and therefore 2
1/4 inches longer than that of the Scanderoon,--a bird of nearly the same
size. The beak is longer, thicker, and broader than in the rock-pigeon,
proportionally with the size of body. The eyelids, nostrils, and internal
gape of mouth are all proportionally very large, as in Carriers. The foot,
from the end of the middle to end of hind toe, was actually 2.85 inches in
length, which is an excess of .32 of an inch over the foot of the rock-
pigeon, proportionally to the relative size of the two birds.]
SUB-RACE 3/III. SPANISH AND ROMAN RUNTS.
[I am not sure that I am right in placing these Runts in a distinct sub-
race; yet, if we take well-characterised birds, there can be no doubt of
the propriety of the separation. They are heavy, massive birds, with
shorter necks, legs, and beaks than in the foregoing races. The skin over
the nostrils is swollen, but not carunculated; the naked skin round the
eyes is not very wide, and only slightly carunculated; and I have seen a
fine so-called Spanish Runt with hardly any naked skin round the eyes. Of
the two varieties to be seen in England, one, which is the rarer, has very
long wings and tail, and agrees pretty closely with the last sub-race; the
other, with shorter wings and tail, is apparently the Pigeon romain
ordinaire of Boitard and Corbie. These Runts are apt to tremble like
Fantails. They are bad flyers. A few years ago Mr. Gulliver (5/11. 'Poultry
Chronicle' volume 2 page 573.) exhibited a Runt which weighed 1 pound 14
ounces; and, as I am informed by Mr. Tegetmeier, two Runts from the south
of France were lately exhibited at the Crystal Palace, each of which
weighed 2 pounds 2 1/2 ounces. A very fine rock-pigeon from the Shetland
Islands weighed only 14 1/2 ounces.]
SUB-RACE 3/IV. TRONFO OF ALDROVANDI (LEGHORN RUNT?).
[In Aldrovandi's work published in 1600 there is a coarse woodcut of a
great Italian pigeon, with an elevated tail, short legs, massive body, and
with the beak short and thick. I had imagined that this latter character so
abnormal in the group, was merely a false representation from bad drawing;
but Moore, in his work published in 1735, says that he possessed a Leghorn
Runt of which "the beak was very short for so large a bird." In other
respects Moore's bird resembled the first sub-race or Scanderoon, for it
had a long bowed neck, long legs, short beak, and elevated tail, and not
much wattle about the head. So that Aldrovandi's and Moore's birds must
have formed distinct varieties, both of which seem to be now extinct in
Europe. Sir W. Elliot, however, informs me that he has seen in Madras a
short-beaked Runt imported from Cairo.]
SUB-RACE 3/V. MURASSA (ADORNED PIGEON) OF MADRAS.
[Skins of these handsome chequered birds were sent me from Madras by Sir W.
Elliot. They are rather larger than the largest rock-pigeon, with longer
and more massive beaks. The skin over the nostrils is rather full and very
slightly carunculated, and they have some naked skin round the eyes; feet
large. This breed is intermediate between the rock-pigeon and a very poor
variety of Runt or Carrier.
From these several descriptions we see that with Runts, as with Carriers,
we have a fine gradation from the rock-pigeon (with the Tronfo diverging as
a distinct branch) to our largest and most massive Runts. But the chain of
affinities, and many points of resemblance, between Runts and carriers,
make me believe that these two races have not descended by independent
lines from the rock-pigeon, but from some common parent, as represented in
the Table, which had already acquired a moderately long beak with slightly
swollen skin over the nostrils, and with some slightly carunculated naked
skin round the eyes.]
(FIGURE 20. ENGLISH BARB.)
RACE IV. BARBS. (INDISCHE TAUBEN; PIGEONS POLONAIS.)
Beak short, broad, deep; naked skin round the eyes, broad and carunculated;
skin over nostrils slightly swollen.
[Misled by the extraordinary shortness and form of the beak, I did not at
first perceive the near affinity of this Race to that of Carriers until the
fact was pointed out to me by Mr. Brent. Subsequently, after examining the
Bussorah Carrier, I saw that no very great amount of modification would be
requisite to convert it into a Barb. This view of the affinity of Barbs to
Carriers is supported by the analogical difference between the short and
long-beaked Runts; and still more strongly by the fact, that, young Barbs
and Dragons, within 24 hours after being hatched, resemble each other much
more closely than do young pigeons of other and equally distinct breeds. At
this early age, the length of beak, the swollen skin over the rather open
nostrils, the gape of the mouth, and the size of the feet, are the same in
both; although these parts afterwards become widely different. We thus see
that embryology (as the comparison of very young animals may perhaps be
called) comes into play in the classification of domestic varieties, as
with species in a state of nature.
Fanciers, with some truth, compare the head and beak of the Barb to that of
a bullfinch. The Barb, if found in a state of nature would certainly have
been placed in a new genus formed for its reception. The body is a little
larger than that of the rock-pigeon, but the beak is more than .2 of an
inch shorter; although shorter, it is both vertically and horizontally
thicker. From the outward flexure of the rami of the lower jaw, the mouth
internally is very broad, in the proportion of .6 to .4 to that of the
rock-pigeon. The whole head is broad. The skin over the nostril is swollen,
but not carunculated, except slightly in first-rate birds when old; whilst
the naked skin round the eye is broad and much carunculated. It is
sometimes so much developed, that a bird belonging to Mr. Harrison Weir
could hardly see to pick up food from the ground. The eyelids in one
specimen were nearly twice as long as those of the rock-pigeon. The feet
are coarse and strong, but proportionally rather shorter than in the rock-
pigeon. The plumage is generally dark and uniform. Barbs, in short, may be
called short-beaked Carriers, bearing the same relation to Carriers that
the Tronfo of Aldrovandi does to the common Runt.]
GROUP III.
This group is artificial, and includes a heterogeneous collection of
distinct forms. It may be defined by the beak, in well-characterised
specimens of the several races, being shorter than in the rock-pigeon, and
by the skin round the eyes not being much developed.
(FIGURE 21. ENGLISH FANTAIL.)
RACE V.-FANTAILS.
SUB-RACE 5/I. EUROPEAN FANTAILS (PFAUENTAUBEN; TREMBLEURS).
Tail expanded, directed upwards, formed of many feathers; oil-gland
aborted; body and beak rather short.
[The normal number of tail-feathers in the genus Columba is 12; but
Fantails have from only 12 (as has been asserted) up to, according to MM.
Boitard and Corbie, 42. I have counted in one of my own birds 33, and at
Calcutta Mr. Blyth (5/12. 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. History' volume 19 1847
page 105.) has counted in an IMPERFECT tail 34 feathers. In Madras, as I am
informed by Sir W. Elliot, 32 is the standard number; but in England number
is much less valued than the position and expansion of the tail. The
feathers are arranged in an irregular double row; their permanent fanlike
expansion and their upward direction are more remarkable characters than
their increased number. The tail is capable of the same movements as in
other pigeons, and can be depressed so as to sweep the ground. It arises
from a more expanded basis than in other pigeons; and in three skeletons
there were one or two extra coccygeal vertebrae. I have examined many
specimens of various colours from different countries, and there was no
trace of the oil-gland; this is a curious case of abortion. (5/13. This
gland occurs in most birds; but Nitzsch (in his 'Pterylographie' 1840 page
55) states that it is absent in two species of Columba, in several species
of Psittacus, in some species of Otis, and in most or all birds of the
Ostrich family. It can hardly be an accidental coincidence that the two
species of Columba, which are destitute of an oil-gland, have an unusual
number of tail-feathers, namely 16, and in this respect resemble Fantails.)
The neck is thin and bowed backwards. The breast is broad and protuberant.
The feet are small. The carriage of the bird is very different from that of
other pigeons; in good birds the head touches the tail-feathers, which
consequently often become crumpled. They habitually tremble much: and their
necks have an extraordinary, apparently convulsive, backward and forward
movement. Good birds walk in a singular manner, as if their small feet were
stiff. Owing to their large tails, they fly badly on a windy day. The dark-
coloured varieties are generally larger than white Fantails.
Although between the best and common Fantails, now existing in England,
there is a vast difference in the position and size of the tail, in the
carriage of the head and neck, in the convulsive movements of the neck, in
the manner of walking, and in the breadth of the breast, the differences so
graduate away, that it is impossible to make more than one sub-race. Moore,
however, an excellent old authority (5/14. See the two excellent editions
published by Mr. J.M. Eaton in 1852 and 1858 entitled 'A Treatise on Fancy
Pigeons.') says, that in 1735 there were two sorts of broad-tailed shakers
(i.e. Fantails), "one having a neck much longer and more slender than the
other;" and I am informed by Mr. B.P. Brent, that there is an existing
German Fantail with a thicker and shorter beak.]
SUB-RACE 5/II. JAVA FANTAIL.
[Mr. Swinhoe sent me from Amoy, in China, the skin of a Fantail belonging
to a breed known to have been imported from Java. It was coloured in a
peculiar manner, unlike any European Fantail; and, for a Fantail, had a
remarkably short beak. Although a good bird of the kind, it had only 14
tail-feathers; but Mr. Swinhoe has counted in other birds of this breed
from 18 to 24 tail-feathers. From a rough sketch sent to me, it is evident
that the tail is not so much expanded or so much upraised as in even
second-rate European Fantails. The bird shakes its neck like our Fantails.
It had a well-developed oil-gland. Fantails were known in India, as We
shall hereafter see, before the year 1600; and we may suspect that in the
Java Fantail we see the breed in its earlier and less improved condition.]
(FIGURE 22. AFRICAN OWL.)
RACE VI. TURBIT AND OWL. (MOVENTAUBEN; PIGEONS A CRAVATE.)
Feathers divergent along the front of the neck and breast; beak very short,
vertically rather thick; oesophagus somewhat enlarged.
Turbits and Owls differ from each other slightly in the shape of the head;
the former have a crest, and the beak is differently curved; but they may
be here conveniently grouped together. These pretty birds, some of which
are very small, can be recognised at once by the feathers irregularly
diverging, like a frill, along the front of the neck, in the same manner,
but in a less degree, as along the back of the neck in the Jacobin. They
have the remarkable habit of continually and momentarily inflating the
upper part of the oesophagus, which causes a movement in the frill. When
the oesophagus of a dead bird is inflated, it is seen to be larger than in
other breeds, and not so distinctly separated from the crop. The Pouter
inflates both its true crop and oesophagus; the Turbit inflates in a much
less degree the oesophagus alone. The beak of the Turbit is very short,
being .28 of an inch shorter than that of the rock-pigeon, proportionally
with the size of their bodies; and in some owls brought by Mr. E. Vernon
Harcourt from Tunis, it was even shorter. The beak is vertically thicker,
and perhaps a little broader, in proportion to that of the rock-pigeon.
RACE VII. TUMBLERS. (TUMMLER, OR BURZELTAUBEN; CULBUTANTS.)
During flight, tumble backwards; body generally small; beak generally
short, sometimes excessively short and conical.
This race may be divided into four sub-races, namely, Persian, Lotan,
Common, and short-faced Tumblers. These sub-races include many varieties
which breed true. I have examined eight skeletons of various kinds of
Tumblers: excepting in one imperfect and doubtful specimen, the ribs are
only seven in number, whereas the rock-pigeon has eight ribs.
SUB-RACE 7/I. PERSIAN TUMBLERS.
I received a pair direct from Persia, from the Hon. C. Murray. They are
rather smaller birds than the wild rock-pigeon, about the size of the
common dovecote pigeon, white and mottled, slightly feathered on the feet,
with the beak just perceptibly shorter than in the rock-pigeon. H.M.
Consul, Mr. Keith Abbott, informs me that the difference in the length of
beak is so slight, that only practised Persian fanciers can distinguish
these Tumblers from the common pigeon of the country. He informs me that
they fly in flocks high up in the air and tumble well. Some of them
occasionally appear to become giddy and tumble to the ground, in which
respect they resemble some of our Tumblers.
SUB-RACE 7/II. LOTAN, OR LOWTUN: INDIAN GROUND TUMBLERS.
These birds present one of the most remarkable inherited habits or
instincts ever recorded. The specimens sent to me from Madras by Sir W.
Elliot are white, slightly feathered on the feet, with the feathers on the
head reversed; and they are rather smaller than the rock or dovecote
pigeon. The beak is proportionally only slightly shorter and rather thinner
than in the rock-pigeon. These birds when gently shaken and placed on the
ground immediately begin tumbling head over heels, and they continue thus
to tumble until taken up and soothed,--the ceremony being generally to blow
in their faces, as in recovering a person from a state of hypnotism or
mesmerism. It is asserted that they will continue to roll over till they
die, if not taken up. There is abundant evidence with respect to these
remarkable peculiarities; but what makes the case the more worthy of
attention is, that the habit has been inherited since before the year 1600,
for the breed is distinctly described in the 'Ayeen Akbery.' (5/15. English
translation by F. Gladwin 4th edition volume 1. The habit of the Lotan is
also described in the Persian treatise before alluded to, published about
100 years ago: at this date the Lotans were generally white and crested as
at present. Mr. Blyth describes these birds in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat.
Hist.' volume 14 1847 page 104; he says that they "may be seen at any of
the Calcutta bird-dealers.") Mr. Evans kept a pair in London, imported by
Captain Vigne; and he assures me that he has seen them tumble in the air,
as well as in the manner above described on the ground. Sir W. Elliot,
however, writes to me from Madras, that he is informed that they tumble
exclusively on the ground, or at a very small height above it. He also
mentions birds of another sub-variety, called the Kalmi Lotan, which begin
to roll over if only touched on the neck with a rod or wand.
SUB-RACE 7/III. COMMON ENGLISH TUMBLERS.
These birds have exactly the same habits as the Persian Tumbler, but tumble
better. The English bird is rather smaller than the Persian, and the beak
is plainly shorter. Compared with the rock-pigeon, and proportionally with
the size of body, the beak is from .15 to nearly .2 of an inch shorter, but
it is not thinner. There are several varieties of the common Tumbler,
namely, Baldheads, Beards, and Dutch Rollers. I have kept the latter alive;
they have differently shaped heads, longer necks, and are feather-footed.
They tumble to an extraordinary degree; as Mr. Brent remarks (5/16.
'Journal of Horticulture' October 22, 1861 page 76.), "Every few seconds
over they go; one, two, or three summersaults at a time. Here and there a
bird gives a very quick and rapid spin, revolving like a wheel, though they
sometimes lose their balance, and make a rather ungraceful fall, in which
they occasionally hurt themselves by striking some object." From Madras I
have received several specimens of the common Tumbler of India, differing
slightly from each other in the length of their beaks. Mr. Brent sent me a
dead specimen of a "House-tumbler" (5/17. See the account of the House-
tumblers kept at Glasgow, in the 'Cottage Gardener' 1858 page 285. Also Mr.
Brent's paper 'Journal of Horticulture' 1861 page 76.), which is a Scotch
variety, not differing in general appearance and form of beak from the
common Tumbler. Mr. Brent states that these birds generally begin to tumble
"almost as soon as they can well fly; at three months old they tumble well,
but still fly strong; at five or six months they tumble excessively; and in
the second year they mostly give up flying, on account of their tumbling so
much and so close to the ground. Some fly round with the flock, throwing a
clean summersault every few yards, till they are obliged to settle from
giddiness and exhaustion. These are called Air Tumblers, and they commonly
throw from twenty to thirty summersaults in a minute, each clear and clean.
I have one red cock that I have on two or three occasions timed by my
watch, and counted forty summersaults in the minute. Others tumble
differently. At first they throw a single summersault, then it is double,
till it becomes a continuous roll, which puts an end to flying, for if they
fly a few yards over they go, and roll till they reach the ground. Thus I
had one kill herself, and another broke his leg. Many of them turn over
only a few inches from the ground, and will tumble two or three times in
flying across their loft. These are called House-tumblers, from tumbling in
the house. The act of tumbling seems to be one over which they have no
control, an involuntary movement which they seem to try to prevent. I have
seen a bird sometimes in his struggles fly a yard or two straight upwards,
the impulse forcing him backwards while he struggles to go forwards. If
suddenly startled, or in a strange place, they seem less able to fly than
if quiet in their accustomed loft." These House-tumblers differ from the
Lotan or Ground Tumbler of India, in not requiring to be shaken in order to
begin tumbling. The breed has probably been formed merely by selecting the
best common Tumblers, though it is possible that they may have been crossed
at some former period with Lotans.
(FIGURE 23. SHORT-FACED ENGLISH TUMBLER.)
SUB-RACE 7/1V. SHORT-FACED TUMBLERS
These are marvellous birds, and are the glory and pride of many fanciers.
In their extremely short, sharp, and conical beaks, with the skin over the
nostrils but little developed, they almost depart from the type of the
Columbidae. Their heads are nearly globular and upright in front, so that
some fanciers say (5/18. J.M. Eaton 'Treatise on Pigeons' 1852 page 9.)
"the head should resemble a cherry with a barleycorn stuck in it." These
are the smallest kind of pigeons. Mr. Esquilant possessed a blue Baldhead,
two years old, which when alive weighed, before feeding-time, only 6 ounces
5 drs.; two others, each weighed 7 ounces. We have seen that a wild rock-
pigeon weighed 14 ounces 2 drs., and a Runt 34 ounces 4 drs. Short-faced
Tumblers have a remarkably erect carriage, with prominent breasts, drooping
wings, and very small feet. The length of the beak from the tip to the
feathered base was in one good bird only .4 of an inch; in a wild rock-
pigeon it was exactly double this length. As these Tumblers have shorter
bodies than the wild rock-pigeon, they ought of course to have shorter
beaks; but proportionally with the size of the body, the beak is .28 of an
inch too short. So, again, the feet of this bird were actually .45 shorter,
and proportionally .21 of an inch shorter, than the feet of the rock-
pigeon. The middle toe has only twelve or thirteen, instead of fourteen or
fifteen scutellae. The primary wing-feathers are not rarely nine instead of
ten in number. The improved short-faced Tumblers have almost lost the power
of tumbling; but there are several authentic accounts of their occasionally
tumbling. There are several sub-varieties, such as Bald-heads, Beards,
Mottles, and Almonds; the latter are remarkable from not acquiring their
perfectly-coloured plumage until they have moulted three or four times.
There is good reason to believe that most of these sub-varieties, some of
which breed truly, have arisen since the publication of Moore's treatise in
1735. (5/19. J.M. Eaton 'Treatise' edition 1858 page 76.)
Finally, in regard to the whole group of Tumblers, it is impossible to
conceive a more perfect gradation than I have now lying before me, from the
rock-pigeon, through Persian, Lotan, and common Tumblers, up to the
marvellous short-faced birds; which latter, no ornithologist, judging from
mere external structure, would place in the same genus with the rock-
pigeon. The differences between the successive steps in this series are not
greater than those which may be observed between common dovecote-pigeons
(C. livia) brought from different countries.]
RACE VIII. INDIAN FRILL-BACK.
Beak very short; feathers reversed.
[A specimen of this bird, in spirits, was sent to me from Madras by Sir W.
Elliot. It is wholly different from the Frill-back often exhibited in
England. It is a smallish bird, about the size of the common Tumbler, but
has a beak in all its proportions like our short-faced Tumblers. The beak,
measured from the tip to the feathered base, was only .46 of an inch in
length. The feathers over the whole body are reversed or curl backwards.
Had this bird occurred in Europe, I should have thought it only a monstrous
variety of our improved Tumbler: but as short-faced Tumblers are not known
in India, I think it must rank as a distinct breed. Probably this is the
breed seen by Hasselquist in 1757 at Cairo, and said to have been imported
from India.]
RACE IX. JACOBIN. (ZOPF- OR PERRFICKENTAUBE; NONNAIN.)
Feathers of the neck forming a hood; wings and tail long; beak moderately
short.
[This pigeon can at once be recognised by its hood, almost enclosing the
head and meeting in front of the neck. The hood seems to be merely an
exaggeration of the crest of reversed feathers on the back of the head,
which is common to many sub-varieties, and which in the Latztaube (5/20.
Neumeister 'Taubenzucht' tab. 4. figure 1.) is in a nearly intermediate
state between a hood and a crest. The feathers of the hood are elongated.
Both the wings and tail are likewise much elongated; thus the folded wing
of the Jacobin, though a somewhat smaller bird, is fully 1 1/4 inch longer
than in the rock-pigeon. Taking the length of the body without the tail as
the standard of comparison, the folded wing, proportionally with the wings
of the rock-pigeon, is 2 1/4 inches too long, and the two wings, from tip
to tip, 5 1/4 inches too long. In disposition this bird is singularly
quiet, seldom flying or moving about, as Bechstein and Riedel have likewise
remarked in Germany. (5/21. Riedel 'Die Taubenzucht' 1824 s. 26. Bechstein
'Naturgeschichte Deutschlands' b. 4 s. 36 1795) The latter author also
notices the length of the wings and tail. The beak is nearly .2 of an inch
shorter in proportion to the size of the body than in the rock-pigeon; but
the 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 the rock-pigeon.
The Trumpeter forms the only well-marked race. Of the numerous other sub-
races and varieties I shall specify only a few of the most distinct, which
I have myself seen and kept alive.
RACE X. TRUMPETER. (TROMMELTAUBE; PIGEON TAMBOUR, GLOUGLOU.)
A tuft of feathers at the base of the beak curling forward; feet much
feathered; voice very peculiar; size exceeding that of the rock-pigeon.
[This is a well-marked breed, with a peculiar voice, wholly unlike that of
any other pigeon. The coo is rapidly repeated, and is continued for several
minutes; hence their name of Trumpeters. They are also characterised by a
tuft of elongated feathers, which curls forward over the base of the beak,
and which is possessed by no other breed. Their feet are so heavily
feathered, that they almost appear like little wings. They are larger birds
than the rock-pigeon, but their beak is of very nearly the 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
exist, which differ in size.]
RACE XI. SCARCELY DIFFERING IN STRUCTURE FROM THE WILD COLUMBA LIVIA.
SUB-RACE 11/I. LAUGHERS.
Size less than the Rock-pigeon; voice very peculiar.
[As 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, had
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 one of my Trumpeters used to utter a single note like
that of the Laugher. I have kept two varieties of Laughers, which differed
only in one variety being turn-crowned; the 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 the turtle-dove. Both varieties
come from Arabia. This breed was known by Moore in 1735. A pigeon which
seems to say Yak-roo is mentioned in 1600 in the 'Ayeen Akbery' and is
probably the same breed. Sir W. Elliot has also sent me from Madras a
pigeon called Yahui, said to have come from Mecca, which does not differ in
appearance from the 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 these birds
"are 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-RACE 11/II. COMMON FRILL-BACK (DIE STRUPPTAUBE).
Beak rather longer than in the rock-pigeon; feathers reversed .
[This is a considerably larger bird than the rock-pigeon, and with the
beak, proportionally with the size of body, a little (viz. by .04 of an
inch) longer. The feathers, especially on the wing-coverts, have their
points curled upwards or back-wards.]
SUB-RACE 11/III. NUNS (PIGEONS COQUILLES).
[These elegant birds are smaller than the rock-pigeon. The beak is actually
1.7, and proportionally with the size of the body .1 of an inch shorter
than in the rock-pigeons, although of the same thickness. In young birds
the scutellae on the tarsi and toes are generally of a leaden-black colour;
and this is a remarkable character (though observed in a lesser degree in
some other breeds), as the colour of the legs in the adult state is subject
to very little variation in any breed. I have on two or three occasions
counted thirteen or fourteen feathers in the tail; this likewise occurs in
the barely distinct breed called Helmets. Nuns are symmetrically coloured,
with the head, primary wing-feathers, tail, and tail-coverts of the same
colour, namely, black or red, and with the rest of the body white. This
breed has retained the same character since Aldrovandi wrote in 1600. I
have received from Madras almost similarly coloured birds.]
SUB-RACE 11/IV. SPOTS (DIE BLASSTAUBEN; PIGEONS HEURTES).
[These birds are a very little larger than the rock-pigeon, with the beak a
trace smaller in all its dimensions, and with the feet decidedly smaller.
They are symmetrically coloured, with a spot on the forehead, with the tail
and tail-coverts of the same colour, the rest of the body being white. This
breed existed in 1676 (5/22. Willughby 'Ornithology' edited by Ray.); and
in 1735 Moore remarks that they breed truly, as is the case at the present
day.]
SUB-RACE 11/V. SWALLOWS.
[These birds, as measured from tip to tip of wing, or from the end of the
beak to the end of the tail, exceed in size the rock-pigeon; but their
bodies are much less bulky; their feet and legs are likewise smaller. The
beak is of about the same length, but rather slighter. Altogether their
general appearance is considerably different from that of the rock-pigeon.
Their heads and wings are of the same colour, the rest of the body being
white. Their flight is said to be peculiar. This seems to be a modern
breed, which, however, originated before the year 1795 in Germany, for it
is described by Bechstein.
Besides the several breeds now described, three or four other very distinct
kinds existed lately, or perhaps still exist, in Germany and France.
Firstly, the Karmeliten, or carme pigeon, which I have not seen; it is
described as of small size, with very short legs, and with an extremely
short beak. Secondly, the Finnikin, which is now extinct in England. It
had, according to Moore's (5/23. J.M. Eaton's edition (1858) of Moore page
98.) treatise, published in 1735, a tuft of feathers on the hinder part of
the head, which ran down its back not unlike a horse's mane. "When it is
salacious it rises over the hen and turns round three or four times,
flapping its wings, then reverses and turns as many times the other way."
The Turner, on the other hand, when it "plays to the female, turns only one
way." Whether these extraordinary statements may be trusted I know not; but
the inheritance of any habit may be believed, after what we have seen with
respect to the Ground-tumbler of India. MM. Boitard and Corbie describe a
pigeon (5/24. Pigeon pattu plongeur. 'Les Pigeons' etc. page 165.) which
has the singular habit of sailing for a considerable time through the air,
without flapping its wings, like a bird of prey. The confusion is
inextricable, from the time of Aldrovandi in 1600 to the present day, in
the accounts published of the Draijers, Smiters, Finnikins, Turners,
Claquers, etc., which are all remarkable from their manner of flight. Mr.
Brent informs me that he has seen one of these breeds in Germany with its
wing-feathers injured from having been so often struck together but he did
not see it flying. An old stuffed specimen of a Finnikin in the British
Museum presents no well-marked character. Thirdly, a singular pigeon with a
forked tail is mentioned in some treatises; and as Bechstein (5/25.
'Naturgeschichte Deutschlands' b. 4 s. 47.) briefly describes and figures
this bird, with a tail "having completely the structure of that of the
house-swallow," it must once have existed, for Bechstein was far too good a
naturalist to have confounded any distinct species with the domestic
pigeon. Lastly, an extraordinary pigeon imported from Belgium has lately
been exhibited at the Philoperisteron Society in London (5/26. Mr. W.B.
Tegetmeier 'Journal of Horticulture' January 20, 1863 page 58.), which
"conjoins the colour of an archangel with the head of an owl or barb, its
most striking peculiarity being the extraordinary length of the tail and
wing-feathers, the latter crossing beyond the tail, and giving to the bird
the appearance of a gigantic swift (Cypselus), or long-winged hawk." Mr.
Tegetmeier informs me that this bird weighed only 10 ounces, but in length
was 15 1/2 inches from tip to beak to end of tail, and 32 1/2 inches from
tip to tip of wing; now the wild rock-pigeon weighs 14 1/2 ounces, and
measures from tip to beak to end of tail 15 inches, and from tip to tip of
wing only 26 3/4 inches.]
I have now described all the domestic pigeons known to me, and have added a
few others on reliable authority. I have classed them under four Groups, in
order to mark their affinities and degrees of difference; but the third
group is artificial. The kinds examined by me form eleven races, which
include several sub-races; and even these latter present differences that
would certainly have been thought of specific value if observed in a state
of nature. The sub-races likewise include many strictly inherited
varieties; so that altogether there must exist, as previously remarked,
above 150 kinds which can be distinguished, though generally by characters
of extremely slight importance. Many of the genera of the Columbidae,
admitted by ornithologists, do not differ in any great degree from each
other; taking this into consideration, there can be no doubt that several
of the most strongly characterised domestic forms, if found wild, would
have been placed in at least five new genera. Thus a new genus would have
been formed for the reception of the improved English Pouter: a second
genus for Carriers and Runts; and this would have been a wide or
comprehensive genus, for it would have admitted common Spanish Runts
without any wattle, short-beaked Runts like the Tronfo, and the improved
English Carrier: a third genus would have been formed for the Barb: a
fourth for the Fantail: and lastly, a fifth for the short beaked, not-
wattled pigeons, such as Turbits and short-faced Tumblers. The remaining
domestic forms might have been included, in the same genus with the wild
rock-pigeon.
INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY; VARIATIONS OF A REMARKABLE NATURE.
The differences which we have as yet considered are characteristic of
distinct breeds; but there are other differences, either confined to
individual birds, or often observed in certain breeds but not
characteristic of them. These individual differences are of importance, as
they might in most cases be secured and accumulated by man's power of
selection and thus an existing breed might be greatly modified or a new one
formed. Fanciers notice and select only those slight differences which are
externally visible; but the whole organisation is so tied together by
correlation of growth, that a change in one part is frequently accompanied
by other changes. For our purpose, modifications of all kinds are equally
important, and if affecting a part which does not commonly vary, are of
more importance than a modification in some conspicuous part. At the
present day any visible deviation of character in a well-established breed
is rejected as a blemish; but it by no means follows that at an early
period, before well-marked breeds had been formed, such deviations would
have been rejected; on the contrary, they would have been eagerly preserved
as presenting a novelty, and would then have been slowly augmented, as we
shall hereafter more clearly see, by the process of unconscious selection.
[I have made numerous measurements of the various parts of the body in the
several breeds, and have hardly ever found them quite the same in birds of
the same breed,--the differences being greater than we commonly meet with
in wild species within the same district. To begin with the primary
feathers of the wing and tail; but I must first mention, as some readers
may not be aware of the fact, that the number of the primary wing and tail-
feathers in wild birds is generally constant, and characterises, not only
whole genera, but even whole families. When the tail-feathers are unusually
numerous, as for instance in the swan, they are apt to be variable in
number; but this does not apply to the several species and genera of the
Columbidae, which never (as far as I can hear) have less than twelve or
more than sixteen tail-feathers; and these numbers characterise, with rare
exception, whole sub-families. (5/27. 'Coup-d'oeil sur L'Ordre des Pigeons'
par C.L. Bonaparte 'Comptes Rendus' 1854-55. Mr. Blyth in 'Annals of Nat.
Hist.' volume 19 1847 page 41, mentions, as a very singular fact, "that of
the two species of Ectopistes, which are nearly allied to each other, one
should have fourteen tail-feathers, while the other, the passenger pigeon
of North America, should possess but the usual number--twelve.") The wild
rock-pigeon has twelve tail-feathers. With Fantails, as we have seen, the
number varies from fourteen to forty-two. In two young birds in the same
nest I counted twenty-two and twenty-seven feathers. Pouters are very
liable to have additional tail-feathers, and I have seen on several
occasions fourteen or fifteen in my own birds. Mr. Bult had a specimen,
examined by Mr. Yarrell, with seventeen tail-feathers. I had a Nun with
thirteen, and another with fourteen tail-feathers; and in a Helmet, a breed
barely distinguishable from the Nun, I have counted fifteen, and have heard
of other such instances. On the other hand, Mr. Brent possessed a Dragon,
which during its whole life never had more than ten tail-feathers; and one
of my Dragons, descended from Mr. Brent's, had only eleven. I have seen a
Bald-head Tumbler with only ten; and Mr. Brent had an Air-Tumbler with the
same number, but another with fourteen tail-feathers. Two of these latter
Tumblers, bred by Mr. Brent, were remarkable,--one from having the two
central tail-feathers a little divergent, and the other from having the two
outer feathers longer by three-eighths of an inch than the others; so that
in both cases the tail exhibited a tendency, but in different ways, to
become forked. And this shows us how a swallow-tailed breed, like that
described by Bechstein, might have been formed by careful selection.
With respect to the primary wing-feathers, the number in the Columbidae, as
far as I can find out, is always nine or ten. In the rock-pigeon it is ten;
but I have seen no less than eight short-faced Tumblers with only nine
primaries, and the occurrence of this number has been noticed by fanciers,
owing to ten primaries of a white colour being one of the points in Short-
faced Bald-head-Tumblers. Mr. Brent, however, had an Air-Tumbler (not
short-faced) which had in both wings eleven primaries. Mr. Corker, the
eminent breeder of prize Carriers, assures me that some of his birds had
eleven primaries in both wings. I have seen eleven in one wing in two
Pouters. I have been assured by three fanciers that they have seen twelve
in Scanderoons; but as Neumeister asserts that in the allied Florence Runt
the middle flight-feather is often double, the number twelve may have been
caused by two of the ten primaries having each two shafts to a single
feather. The secondary wing-feathers are difficult to count, but the number
seems to vary from twelve to fifteen. The length of the wing and tail
relatively to the body, and of the wings to the tail, certainly varies; I
have especially noticed this in Jacobins. In Mr. Bult's magnificent
collection of Pouters, the wings and tail varied greatly in length; and
were sometimes so much elongated that the birds could hardly play upright.
In the relative length of the few first primaries I have observed only a
slight degree of variability. Mr. Brent informs me that he has observed the
shape of the first feather to vary very slightly. But the variation in
these latter points is extremely slight compared with the differences which
may be observed in the natural species of the Columbidae.
In the beak I have seen very considerable differences in birds of the same
breed, as in carefully bred Jacobins and Trumpeters. In Carriers there is
often a conspicuous difference in the degree of attenuation and curvature
of the beak. So it is indeed in many breeds: thus I had two strains of
black Barbs, which evidently differed in the curvature of the upper
mandible. In width of mouth I have found a great difference in two
Swallows. In Fantails of first-rate merit I have seen some birds with much
longer and thinner necks than in others. Other analogous facts could be
given. We have seen that the oil-gland is aborted in all Fantails (with the
exception of the sub-race from Java), and, I may add, so hereditary is this
tendency to abortion, that some, although not all, of the mongrels which I
reared from the Fantail and Pouter had no oil-gland; in one Swallow out of
many which I have examined, and in two Nuns, there was no oil-gland.
The number of the scutellae on the toes often varies in the same breed, and
sometimes even differs on the two feet of the same individual; the Shetland
rock-pigeon has fifteen on the middle, and six on the hinder toe; whereas I
have seen a Runt with sixteen on the middle and eight on the hind toe; and
a short-faced Tumbler with only twelve and five on these same toes. The
rock-pigeon has no sensible amount of skin between its toes; but I
possessed a Spot and a Nun with the skin extending for a space of a quarter
of an inch from the fork, between the two INNER toes. On the other hand, as
will hereafter be more fully shown, pigeons with feathered feet very
generally have the bases of their OUTER toes connected by skin. I had a red
Tumbler, which had a coo unlike that of its fellows, approaching in tone to
that of the Laugher: this bird had the habit, to a degree which I never saw
equalled in any other pigeon, of often walking with its wings raised and
arched in an elegant-manner. I need say nothing on the great variability,
in almost every breed, in size of body, in colour, in the feathering of the
feet, and in the feathers on the back of the head being reversed. But I may
mention a remarkable Tumbler (5/28. Described and figured in the 'Poultry
Chronicle' volume 3 1855 page 82.) exhibited at the Crystal Palace, which
had an irregular crest of feathers on its head, somewhat like the tuft on
the head of the Polish fowl. Mr. Bult reared a hen Jacobin with the
feathers on the thigh so long as to reach the ground, and a cock having,
but in a lesser degree, the same peculiarity: from these two birds he bred
others similarly characterised, which were exhibited at the Philoperisteron
Soc. I bred a mongrel pigeon which had fibrous feathers, and the wing and
tail-feathers so short and imperfect that the bird could not fly even a
foot in height.]
There are many singular and inherited peculiarities in the plumage of
pigeons: thus Almond-Tumblers do not acquire their perfect mottled feathers
until they have moulted three or four times: the Kite Tumbler is at first
brindled black and red with a barred appearance, but when "it throws its
nest feathers it becomes almost black, generally with a bluish tail, and a
reddish colour on the inner webs of the primary wing-feathers." (5/29. 'The
Pigeon Book' by Mr. B.P. Brent 1859 page 41.) Neumeister describes a breed
of a black colour with white bars on the wing and a white crescent-shaped
mark on the breast; these marks are generally rusty-red before the first
moult, but after the third or fourth moult they undergo a change; the wing-
feathers and the crown of the head likewise then become white or grey.
(5/30. 'Die staarhalsige Taube. Das Ganze, etc.' s. 21 tab. 1. figure 4.)
It is an important fact, and I believe there is hardly an exception to the
rule, that the especial characters for which each breed is valued are
eminently variable: thus, in the Fantail, the number and direction of the
tail-feathers, the carriage of the body, and the degree of trembling are
all highly variable points; in Pouters, the degree to which they pout, and
the shape of their inflated crops; in the Carrier, the length, narrowness,
and curvature of the beak, and the amount of wattle; in Short-faced
Tumblers, the shortness of the beak, the prominence of the forehead, and
general carriage (5/31. 'A Treatise on the Almond-Tumbler' by J.M. Eaton
1852 page 8 et passim.), and in the Almond-Tumbler the colour of the
plumage; in common Tumblers, the manner of tumbling; in the Barb, the
breadth and shortness of the beak and the amount of eye-wattle; in Runts,
the size of body; in Turbits the frill; and lastly in Trumpeters, the
cooing, as well as the size of the tuft of feathers over the nostrils.
These, which are the distinctive and selected characters of the several
breeds, are all eminently variable.
There is another interesting fact with respect to the characters of the
several breeds, namely, that they are often most strongly displayed in the
male bird. In Carriers, when the males and females are exhibited in
separate pens, the wattle is plainly seen to be much more developed in the
males, though I have seen a hen Carrier belonging to Mr. Haynes heavily
wattled. Mr. Tegetmeier informs me that, in twenty Barbs in Mr. P.H.
Jones's possession, the males had generally the largest eye-wattles; Mr.
Esquilant also believes in this rule, but Mr. H. Weir, a first-rate judge,
entertains some doubt on the subject. Male Pouters distend their crops to a
much greater size than do the females; I have, however, seen a hen in the
possession of Mr. Evans which pouted excellently; but this is an unusual
circumstance. Mr. Harrison Weir, a successful breeder of prize Fantails,
informs me that his male birds often have a greater number of tail-feathers
than the females. Mr. Eaton asserts (5/32. 'A Treatise, etc.' page 10.)
that if a cock and hen Tumbler were of equal merit, the hen would be worth
double the money; and as pigeons always pair, so that an equal number of
both sexes is necessary for reproduction, this seems to show that high
merit is rarer in the female than in the male. In the development of the
frill in Turbits, of the hood in Jacobins, of the tuft in Trumpeters, of
tumbling in Tumblers, there is no difference between the males and females.
I may here add a rather different case, namely, the existence in France
(5/33. Boitard and Corbie 'Les Pigeons' etc. 1824 page 173.) of a wine-
coloured variety of the Pouter, in which the male is generally chequered
with black, whilst the female is never so chequered. Dr. Chapuis also
remarks (5/34. 'Le Pigeon Voyageur Belge' 1865 page 87. I have given in my
'Descent of Man' 6th edition page 466 some curious cases, on the authority
of Mr. Tegetmeier, of silver-coloured (i.e. very pale blue) birds being
generally females, and of the ease with which a race thus characterised
could be produced. Bonizzi (see 'Variazioni dei Columbi domestici' Padova
1873) states that certain coloured spots are often different in the two
sexes, and the certain tints are commoner in females than in male pigeons.)
that in certain light-coloured pigeons the males have their feathers
striated with black, and these striae increase in size at each moult, so
that the male ultimately becomes spotted with black. With Carriers, the
wattle, both on the beak and round the eyes, and with Barbs that round the
eyes, goes on increasing with age. This augmentation of character with
advancing age, and more especially the difference between the males and
females in the above-mentioned several respects, are remarkable facts, for
there is no sensible difference at any age between the two sexes in the
aboriginal rock-pigeon; and not often any strongly marked difference
throughout the family of the Columbidae. (5/35. Prof. A. Newton 'Proc.
Zoolog. Soc.' 1865 page 716 remarks that he knows no species which present
any remarkable sexual distinction; but Mr. Wallace informs me, that in the
sub-family of the Treronidae the sexes often differ considerably in colour.
See also on sexual differences in the Columbidae, Gould 'Handbook to the
Birds of Australia' volume 2 pages 109-149.)
OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS.
In the skeletons of the various breeds there is much variability; and
though certain differences occur frequently, and others rarely, in certain
breeds, yet none can be said to be absolutely characteristic of any breed.
Considering that strongly-marked domestic races have been formed chiefly by
man's selection, we ought not to expect to find great and constant
differences in the skeleton; for fanciers neither see, nor do they care
for, modifications of structure in the internal framework. 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 the much modified races are never allowed to wander abroad and procure
their own food in various ways. Moreover, I find, on comparing the
skeletons of Columba livia, oenas, palumbus, and turtur, which are ranked
by all systematists in two or three distinct though allied genera, that the
differences are extremely slight, certainly less than between the skeletons
of some of the most distinct domestic breeds. How far the skeleton of the
wild rock-pigeon is constant I have had no means of judging, as I have
examined only two.
(FIGURE 24. SKULLS OF PIGEONS viewed laterally, of natural size. A. Wild
Rock-pigeon, Columba livia. B. Short-faced Tumbler. C. English Carrier. D.
Bagadotten Carrier.)
[SKULL.
The individual bones, especially those at the base, do not differ in shape.
But the whole skull, in its proportions, outline, and relative direction of
the bones, differs greatly in some of the breeds, as may be seen by
comparing the figures of (A) the wild rock-pigeon, (B) the Short-faced
Tumbler, (C) the English Carrier, and (D) the Bagadotten Carrier (of
Neumeister), all drawn of the natural size and viewed laterally. In the
Carrier, besides the elongation of the bones of the face, the space between
the orbits is proportionally a little narrower than in the rock-pigeon. In
the Bagadotten the upper mandible is remarkably arched, and the
premaxillary bones are proportionally broader. In the Short-faced Tumbler
the skull is more globular: all the bones of the face are much shortened,
and the front of the skull and descending nasal bones are almost
perpendicular: the maxillo-jugal arch and premaxillary bones form an almost
straight line; the space between the prominent edges of the eye-orbits is
depressed. In the Barb the premaxillary bones are much shortened, and their
anterior portion is thicker than in the rock-pigeon, as is the lower part
of the nasal bone. In two Nuns the ascending branches of the
premaxillaries, near their tips, were somewhat attenuated, and in these
birds, as well as in some others, for instance in the Spot, the occipital
crest over the foramen was considerably more prominent than in the rock-
pigeon.
(FIGURE 25. LOWER JAWS, seen from above, of natural size. A. Rock-pigeon.
B. Runt. C. Barb.
FIGURE 26. SKULL OF RUNT, seen from above, of natural size, showing the
reflexed margin of the distal portion of the lower jaw.
FIGURE 27. LATERAL VIEW OF JAWS, of natural size. A. Rock-pigeon. B.
Shortfaced Tumbler. C. Bagadotten Carrier.)
In the lower jaw, the articular surface is proportionably smaller in many
breeds than in the rock-pigeon; and the vertical diameter, more especially
of the outer part of the articular surface, is considerably shorter. May
not this be accounted for by the lessened use of the jaws, owing to
nutritious food having been given during a long period to all highly
improved pigeons? In Runts, Carriers, and Barbs (and in a lesser degree in
several breeds), the whole side of the jaw near the articular end is bent
inwards in a highly remarkable manner; and the superior margin of the
ramus, beyond the middle, is reflexed in an equally remarkable manner, as
may be seen in figure 25, in comparison with the jaw of the rock-pigeon.
This reflection of the upper margin of the lower jaw is plainly connected
with the singularly wide gape of the mouth, as has been described in Runts,
Carriers, and Barbs. The reflection is well shown in figure 26 of the head
of a Runt seen from above; here a wide open space may be observed on each
side, between the edges of the lower jaw and of the premaxillary bones. In
the rock-pigeon, and in several domestic breeds, the edges of the lower jaw
on each side come close up to the premaxillary bones, so that no open space
is left. The degree of downward curvature of the distal half of the lower
jaw also differs to an extraordinary degree in some breeds, as may be seen
in the drawings (figure 27 A) of the rock-pigeon, (B) of the Short-faced
Tumbler, and (C) of the Bagadotten Carrier of Neumeister. In some Runts the
symphysis of the lower jaw is remarkably solid. No one would readily have
believed that jaws differing in the several above-specified points so
greatly could have belonged to the same species.
VERTEBRAE.
All the breeds have twelve cervical vertebrae. (5/36. I am not sure that I
have designated the different kinds of vertebra correctly: but I observe
that different anatomists follow in this respect different rules, and, as I
use the same terms in the comparison of all the skeletons, this, I hope,
will not signify.) But in a Bussorah Carrier from India the twelfth
vertebra carried a small rib, a quarter of an inch in length, with a
perfect double articulation.
The DORSAL VERTEBRAE are always eight. In the rock-pigeon all eight bear
ribs; the eighth rib being very thin, and the seventh having no process. In
Pouters all the ribs are extremely broad, eight bear ribs; the eighth rib
being very thin and the seventh having no process. In Pouters all the ribs
are extremely broad, and, in three out of four skeletons examined by me,
the eighth rib was twice or even thrice as broad as in the rock-pigeon; and
the seventh pair had distinct processes. In many breeds there are only
seven ribs, as in seven out of eight skeletons of various Tumblers, and in
several skeletons of Fantails, Turbits and Nuns.
In all these breeds the seventh pair was very small, and was destitute of
processes, in which respect it differed from the same rib in the rock-
pigeon. In one Tumbler, and in the Bussorah Carrier, even the sixth pair
had no process. The hypapophysis of the second dorsal vertebra varies much
in development; being sometimes (as in several, but not all Tumblers)
nearly as prominent as that of the third dorsal vertebra; and the two
hypapophyses together tend to form an ossified arch. The development of the
arch, formed by the hypapophyses of the third and fourth dorsal vertebrae,
also varies considerably, as does the size of the hypapophysis of the fifth
vertebra.
The rock-pigeon has twelve sacral vertebrae; but these vary in number,
relative size, and distinctness, in the different breeds. In Pouters, with
their elongated bodies, there are thirteen or even fourteen, and, as we
shall immediately see, an additional number of caudal vertebrae. In Runts
and Carriers there is generally the proper number, namely twelve; but in
one Runt, and in the Bussorah Carrier, there were only eleven. In Tumblers
there are either eleven, or twelve, or thirteen sacral vertebrae.
The CAUDAL VERTEBRAE are seven in number in the rock-pigeon. In Fantails,
which have their tails so largely developed, there are eight or nine, and
apparently in one case ten, and they are a little longer than in the rock-
pigeon, and their shape varies considerably. Pouters, also, have eight or
nine caudal vertebrae. I have seen eight in a Nun and Jacobin. Tumblers,
though such small birds, always have the normal number seven; as have
Carriers, with one exception, in which there were only six.
The following table will serve as a summary, and will show the most
remarkable deviations in the number of the vertebra and ribs which I have
observed:--
TABLE 4. NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE AND RIBS IN:
1. THE ROCK PIGEON.
Cervical Vertebrae: 12.
Dorsal Vertebrae: 8.
Dorsal Ribs: 8.
The 6th pair with processes, the 7th pair without a process.
Sacral Vertebrae: 12.
Caudal Vertebrae: 7.
Total: 39.
2. POUTER, FROM MR. BULT.
Cervical Vertebrae: 12.
Dorsal Vertebrae: 8.
Dorsal Ribs: 8.
The 6th and 7th pair with processes.
Sacral Vertebrae: 14.
Caudal Vertebrae: 8 or 9.
Total: 42 or 43.
3. TUMBLER, DUTCH ROLLER.
Cervical Vertebrae: 12.
Dorsal Vertebrae: 8.
Dorsal Ribs: 7.
The 6th and 7th pair without processes.
Sacral Vertebrae: 11.
Caudal Vertebrae: 7.
Total: 38.
4. BUSSORAH CARRIER.
Cervical Vertebrae: 12.
The twelfth bore a small rib.
Dorsal Vertebrae: 8.
Dorsal Ribs: 7.
The 6th and 7th pair without processes.
Sacral Vertebrae: 11.
Caudal Vertebrae: 7.
Total: 38.
The PELVIS differs very little in any breed. The anterior margin of the
ilium, however, is sometimes a little more equally rounded on both sides
than in the rock-pigeon. The ischium is also frequently rather more
elongated. The obturator-notch is sometimes, as in many Tumblers, less
developed than in the rock-pigeon. The ridges on the ilium are very
prominent in most Runts.
(FIGURE 28. SCAPULAE, of natural size. A. Rock-pigeon. B. Short-faced
Tumbler.)
In the bones of the extremities I could detect no difference, except in
their proportional lengths; for instance, the metatarsus in a Pouter was
1.65 inch, and in a Short-faced Tumbler only .95 in length; and this is a
greater difference than would naturally follow from their differently-sized
bodies; but long legs in the Pouter, and small feet in the Tumbler, are
selected points. In some Pouters the SCAPULA is rather straighter, and in
some Tumblers it is straighter, with the apex less elongated, than in the
rock-pigeon: in figure 28, the scapula of the rock-pigeon (A), and of a
short-faced Tumbler (B), are given. The processes at the summit of the
CORACOID, which receive the extremities of the furculum, form a more
perfect cavity in some Tumblers than in the rock-pigeon: in Pouters these
processes are larger and differently shaped, and the exterior angle of the
extremity of the coracoid, which is articulated to the sternum, is squarer.
(FIGURE 29. FURCULA, of natural size. A. Short-faced Tumbler. B and C
Fantail. D. Pouter.)
The two arms of the FURCULUM in Pouters diverge less, proportionally to
their length, than in the rock-pigeon; and the symphysis is more solid and
pointed. In Fantails the degree of divergence of the two arms varies in a
remarkable manner. In figure 29, B and C represent the furcula of two
Fantails; and it will be seen that the divergence in B is rather less even
than in the furculum of the short-faced, small-sized Tumbler (A), whereas
the divergence in C equals that in a rock-pigeon, or in the Pouter (D),
though the latter is a much larger bird. The extremities of the furculum,
where articulated to the coracoids, vary considerably in outline.
In the STERNUM the differences in form are slight, except in the size and
outline of the perforations, which, both in the larger and lesser sized
breeds, are sometimes small. These perforations, also, are sometimes either
nearly circular, or elongated as is often the case with Carriers. The
posterior perforations occasionally are not complete, being left open
posteriorly. The marginal apophyses forming the anterior perforations vary
greatly in development. The degree of convexity of the posterior part of
the sternum differs much, being sometimes almost perfectly flat. The
manubrium is rather more prominent in some individuals than in others, and
the pore immediately under it varies greatly in size.]
CORRELATION OF GROWTH.
By this term I mean that the whole organisation is so connected, that when
one part varies, other parts vary; but which of two correlated variations
ought to be looked at as the cause and which as the effect, or whether both
result from some common cause, we can seldom or never tell. The point of
interest for us is that, when fanciers, by the continued selection of
slight variations, have largely modified one part, they often
unintentionally produce other modifications. For instance, the beak is
readily acted on by selection, and, with its increased or diminished
length, the tongue increases or diminishes, but not in due proportion; for,
in a Barb and Short-faced Tumbler, both of which have very short beaks, the
tongue, taking the rock-pigeon as the standard of comparison, was
proportionally not shortened enough, whilst in two Carriers and in a Runt
the tongue, proportionally with the beak, was not lengthened enough, thus,
in a first-rate English Carrier, in which the beak from the tip to the
feathered base was exactly thrice as long as in a first-rate Short-faced
Tumbler, the tongue was only a little more than twice as long. But the
tongue varies in length independently of the beak: thus in a Carrier with a
beak 1.2 inch in length, the tongue was .67 in length: whilst in a Runt
which equalled the Carrier in length of body and in stretch of wings from
tip to tip, the beak was .92 whilst the tongue was .73 of an inch in
length, so that the tongue was actually longer than in the carrier with its
long beak. The tongue of the Runt was also very broad at the root. Of two
Runts, one had its beak longer by .23 of an inch, whilst its tongue was
shorter by .14 than in the other.
With the increased or diminished length of the beak the length of the slit
forming the external orifice of the nostrils varies, but not in due
proportion, for, taking the rock-pigeon as the standard, the orifice in a
Short-faced Tumbler was not shortened in due proportion with its very short
beak. On the other hand (and this could not have been anticipated), the
orifice in three English Carriers, in the Bagadotten Carrier, and in a Runt
(pigeon cygne), was longer by above the tenth of an inch than would follow
from the length of the beak proportionally with that of the rock-pigeon. In
one Carrier the orifice of the nostrils was thrice as long as in the rock-
pigeon, though in body and length of beak this bird was not nearly double
the size of the rock-pigeon. This greatly increased length of the orifice
of the nostrils seems to stand partly in correlation with the enlargement
of the wattled skin on the upper mandible and over the nostrils; and this
is a character which is selected by fanciers. So again, the broad, naked,
and wattled skin round the eyes of Carriers and Barbs is a selected
character; and in obvious correlation with this, the eyelids, measured
longitudinally, are proportionally more than double the length of those of
the rock-pigeon.
The great difference (see figure 27) in the curvature of the lower jaw in
the rock-pigeon, the Tumbler, and Bagadotten Carrier, stands in obvious
relation to the curvature of the upper jaw, and more especially to the
angle formed by the maxillo-jugal arch with the premaxillary bones. But in
Carriers, Runts, and Barbs the singular reflexion of the upper margin of
the middle part of the lower jaw (see figure 25) is not strictly correlated
with the width or divergence (as may be clearly seen in figure 26) of the
premaxillary bones, but with the breadth of the horny and soft parts of the
upper mandible, which are always overlapped by the edges of the lower
mandible.
In Pouters, the elongation of the body is a selected character, and the
ribs, as we have seen, have generally become very broad, with the seventh
pair furnished with processes; the sacral and caudal vertebrae have been
augmented in number; the sternum has likewise increased in length (but not
in the depth of the crest) by .4 of an inch more than would follow from the
greater bulk of the body in comparison with that of the rock-pigeon. In
Fantails, the length and number of the caudal vertebrae have increased.
Hence, during the gradual progress of variation and selection, the internal
bony framework and the external shape of the body have been, to a certain
extent, modified in a correlated manner.
Although the wings and tail often vary in length independently of each
other, it is scarcely possible to doubt that they generally tend to become
elongated or shortened in correlation. This is well seen in Jacobins, and
still more plainly in Runts, some varieties of which have their wings and
tail of great length, whilst others have both very short. With Jacobins,
the remarkable length of the tail and wing-feathers is not a character
which is intentionally selected by fanciers; but fanciers have been trying
for centuries, at least since the year 1600, to increase the length of the
reversed feathers on the neck, so that the hood may more completely enclose
the head; and it may be suspected that the increased length of the wing and
tail-feathers stand in correlation with the increased length of the neck-
feathers. Short-faced Tumblers have short wings in nearly due proportion
with the reduced size of their bodies; but it is remarkable, seeing that
the number of the primary wing-feathers is a constant character in most
birds, that these Tumblers generally have only nine instead of ten
primaries. I have myself observed this in eight birds; and the Original
Columbarian Society (5/37. J.M. Eaton 'Treatise' edition 1858 page 78.)
reduced the standard for Bald-head Tumblers from ten to nine white flight-
feathers, thinking it unfair that a bird which had only nine feathers
should be disqualified for a prize because it had not ten WHITE flight-
feathers. On the other hand, in Carriers and Runts, which have large bodies
and long wings, eleven primary feathers have occasionally been observed.
Mr. Tegetmeier has informed me of a curious and inexplicable case of
correlation, namely, that young pigeons of all breeds which when mature
become white, yellow, silver (i.e., extremely pale blue), or dun-coloured,
are born almost naked; whereas pigeons of other colours are born well-
clothed with down. Mr. Esquilant, however, has observed that young dun
Carriers are not so bare as young dun Barbs and Tumblers. Mr. Tegetmeier
has seen two young birds in the same nest, produced from differently
coloured parents, which differed greatly in the degree to which they were
at first clothed with down.
I have observed another case of correlation which at first sight appears
quite inexplicable, but on which, as we shall see in a future chapter, some
light can be thrown by the law of homologous parts varying in the same
manner. The case is, that, when the feet are much feathered, the roots of
the feathers are connected by a web of skin, and apparently in correlation
with this the two outer toes become connected for a considerable space by
skin. I have observed this in very many specimens of Pouters, Trumpeters,
Swallows, Roller-tumblers (likewise observed in this breed by Mr. Brent),
and in a lesser degree in other feather-footed pigeons.
The feet of the smaller and larger breeds are of course much smaller or
larger than those of the rock-pigeon; but the scutellae or scales covering
the toes and tarsi have not only decreased or increased in size, but
likewise in number. To give a single instance, I have counted eight
scutellae on the hind toe of a Runt, and only five on that of a Short-faced
Tumbler. With birds in a state of nature the number of the scutellae on the
feet is usually a constant character. The length of the feet and the length
of the beak apparently stand in correlation; but as disuse apparently has
affected the size of the feet, this case may come under the following
discussion.
ON THE EFFECTS OF DISUSE.
In the following discussion on the relative proportions of the feet,
sternum, furculum, scapulae, and wings, I may premise, in order to give
some confidence to the reader, that all my measurements were made in the
same manner, and that they were made without the least intention of
applying them to the following purpose.
[TABLE 5.I.
PIGEONS WITH THEIR BEAKS GENERALLY SHORTER THAN THAT OF THE ROCK-PIGEON,
PROPORTIONALLY TO THE SIZE OF THEIR BODIES.
Column 1. Name of Breed.
Column 2. Actual length of Feet (inches).
Column 3. Difference between actual and calculated length of feet, in
proportion to length of feet and size of body in the Rock-pigeon.
Column 3a. Too short by (inches).
Column 3b. Too long by (inches).
1. 2. 3a. 3b.
Wild rock-pigeon (mean measurement). 2.02
Short-faced Tumbler, bald-head. 1.57 0.11 ..
Short-faced Tumbler, almond. 1.60 0.16 ..
Tumbler, red magpie. 1.75 0.19 ..
Tumbler, red common (by standard to end of tail). 1.85 0.07 ..
Tumbler, common bald-head. 1.85 0.18 ..
Tumbler, roller. 1.80 0.06 ..
Turbit. 1.75 0.17 ..
Turbit. 1.80 0.01 ..
Turbit. 1.84 0.15 ..
Jacobin. 1.90 0.02 ..
Trumpeter, white. 2.02 0.06 ..
Trumpeter, mottled. 1.95 0.18 ..
Fantail (by standard to end of tail). 1.85 0.15 ..
Fantail (by standard to end of tail). 1.95 0.15 ..
Fantail crested var. Ditto. 1.95 0.0 0.0
Indian Frill-back Ditto. 1.8O 0.19 ..
English Frill-back. 2.10 0.03 ..
Nun. 1.82 0.02 ..
Laugher. 1.65 0.16 ..
Barb. 2.00 0.03 ..
Barb. 2.00 ..
0.03
Spot. 1.90 0.02 ..
Spot. 1.90 0.07 ..
Swallow, red. 1.85 0.18 ..
Swallow, blue. 2.00 ..
0.03
Pouter. 2.42 ..
0.11
Pouter, German. 2.30 ..
0.09
Bussorah Carrier. 2.17 ..
0.09
Number of specimens. 28 22 5
I measured most of the birds which came into my possession, from the
feathered BASE of the beak (the length of beak itself being so variable) to
the end of the tail, and to the oil-gland, but unfortunately (except in a
few cases) not to the root of the tail; I measured each bird from the
extreme tip to tip of wing; and the length of the terminal folded part of
the wing, from the extremity of the primaries to the joint of the radius. I
measured the feet without the claws, from the end of the middle toe to the
end of the hind toe; and the tarsus and middle toe together. I have taken
in every case the mean measurement of two wild rock-pigeons from the
Shetland Islands, as the standard of comparison. The following table shows
the actual length of the feet in each bird; and the difference between the
length which the feet ought to have had according to the size of body of
each, in comparison with the size of body and length of feet of the rock-
pigeon, calculated (with a few specified exceptions) by the standard of the
length of the body from the base of the beak to the oil-gland. I have
preferred this standard, owing to the variability of the length of tail.
But I have made similar calculations, taking as the standard the length
from tip to tip of wing, and likewise in most cases from the base of the
beak to the end of the tail; and the result has always been closely
similar. To give an example: the first bird in the table, being a Short-
faced Tumbler, is much smaller than the rock-pigeon, and would naturally
have shorter feet; but it is found on calculation to have feet too short by
.11 of an inch, in comparison with the feet of the rock-pigeon, relatively
to the size of the body in these two birds, as measured from the base of
beak to the oil-gland. So again, when this same Tumbler and the rock-pigeon
were compared by the length of their wings, or by the extreme length of
their bodies, the feet of the Tumbler were likewise found to be too short
in very nearly the same proportion. I am well aware that the measurements
pretend to greater accuracy than is possible, but it was less trouble to
write down the actual measurements given by the compasses in each case than
an approximation.
TABLE 5.II.
PIGEONS WITH THEIR BEAKS LONGER THAN THAT OF THE ROCK-PIGEON,
PROPORTIONALLY TO THE SIZE OF THEIR BODIES.
Column 1. Name of Breed.
Column 2. Actual length of Feet (inches).
Column 3. Difference between actual and calculated length of feet, in
proportion to length of feet and size of body in the Rock-pigeon.
Column 3a. Too short by (inches).
Column 3b. Too long by (inches).
1. 2. 3a. 3b.
Wild rock-pigeon (mean measurement). 2.02
Carrier. 2.60 ..
0.31
Carrier. 2.60 ..
0.25
Carrier. 2.40 ..
0.21
Carrier, Dragon. 2.25 ..
0.06
Bagadotten Carrier. 2.80 ..
0.56
Scanderoon, white. 2.80 ..
0.37
Scanderoon, Pigeon cygne. 2.85 ..
0.29
Runt. 2.75 ..
0.27
Number of specimens. 8 .. 8
In these two tables (Tables 5.I.and 5.II.) we see in the first column the
actual length of the feet in thirty-six birds belonging to various breeds,
and in the two other columns we see by how much the feet are too short or
too long, according to the size of bird, in comparison with the rock-
pigeon. In the first table twenty-two specimens have their feet too short,
on an average by a little above the tenth of an inch (viz. .107); and five
specimens have their feet on an average a very little too long, namely, by
.07 of an inch. But some of these latter cases can be explained; for
instance, with Pouters the legs and feet are selected for length, and thus
any natural tendency to a diminution in the length of the feet will have
been counteracted. In the Swallow and Barb, when the calculation was made
on any standard of comparison besides the one used (viz. length of body
from base of beak to oil-gland), the feet were found to be too small.
In the second table we have eight birds, with their beaks much longer than
in the rock-pigeon, both actually and proportionally with the size of body,
and their feet are in an equally marked manner longer, namely, in
proportion, on an average by .29 of an inch. I should here state that in
Table 5.I. there are a few partial exceptions to the beak being
proportionally shorter than in the rock-pigeon: thus the beak of the
English Frill-back is just perceptibly longer, and that of the Bussorah
Carrier of the same length or slightly longer, than in the rock-pigeon. The
beaks of Spots, Swallows, and Laughers are only a very little shorter, or
of the same proportional length, but slenderer. Nevertheless, these two
tables, taken conjointly, indicate pretty plainly some kind of correlation
between the length of the beak and the size of the feet. Breeders of cattle
and horses believe that there is an analogous connection between the length
of the limbs and head; they assert that a race-horse with the head of a
dray-horse, or a grey-hound with the head of a bulldog, would be a
monstrous production. As fancy pigeons are generally kept in small
aviaries, and are abundantly supplied with food, they must walk about much
less than the wild rock-pigeon; and it may be admitted as highly probable
that the reduction in the size of the feet in the twenty-two birds in the
first table has been caused by disuse (5/38. In an analogous, but converse,
manner, certain natural groups of the Columbidae, from being more
terrestrial in their habits than other allied groups, have larger feet. See
Prince Bonaparte 'Coup d'oeil sur l'Ordre des Pigeons.'), and that this
reduction has acted by correlation on the beaks of the great majority of
the birds in Table 5.I. When, on the other hand, the beak has been much
elongated by the continued selection of successive slight increments of
length, the feet by correlation have likewise become much elongated in
comparison with those of the wild rock-pigeon, notwithstanding their
lessened use.
As I had taken measures from the end of the middle toe to the heel of the
tarsus in the rock-pigeon and in the above thirty-six birds, I have made
calculations analogous with those above given, and the result is the same--
namely, that in the short-beaked breeds, with equally few exceptions as in
the former case, the middle toe conjointly with the tarsus has decreased in
length; whereas in the long-beaked breeds it has increased in length,
though not quite so uniformly as in the former case, for the leg, in some
varieties of the Runt varies much in length.
LENGTH OF STERNUM.
As fancy pigeons are generally confined in aviaries of moderate size, and
as even when not confined they do not search for their own food, they must
during many generations have used their wings incomparably less than the
wild rock-pigeon. Hence it seemed to me probable that all the parts of the
skeleton subservient to flight would be found to be reduced in size. With
respect to the sternum, I have carefully measured its extreme length in
twelve birds of different breeds, and in two wild rock-pigeons from the
Shetland Islands. For the proportional comparison I have tried three
standards of measurement, with all twelve birds namely, the length from the
base of the beak to the oil-gland, to the end of the tail, and from the
extreme tip to tip of wings. The result has been in each case nearly the
same, the sternum being invariably found to be shorter than in the wild
rock-pigeon. I will give only a single table, as calculated by the standard
from the base of the beak to the oil-gland; for the result in this case is
nearly the mean between the results obtained by the two other standards.
TABLE 5.III.
LENGTH OF STERNUM.
Column 1. Name of Breed.
Column 2. Actual Length in Inches.
Column 3. Too short by (inches).
1. 2. 3.
Wild Rock-pigeon. 2.55
Pied Scanderoon. 2.80 0.60
Bagadotten Carrier. 2.80 0.17
Dragon. 2.45 0.41
Carrier. 2.75 0.35
Short-faced Tumbler. 2.05 0.28
Barb. 2.35 0.34
Nun. 2.27 0.15
German Pouter. 2.36 0.54
Jacobin. 2.33 0.22
English Frill-back. 2.40 0.43
Swallow. 2.45 0.17
This table (Table 5.III.) shows that in these twelve breeds the sternum is
of an average one-third of an inch (exactly .332) shorter than in the rock-
pigeon, proportionally with the size of their bodies; so that the sternum
has been reduced by between one-seventh and one-eighth of its entire
length; and this is a considerable reduction.
I have also measured in twenty-one birds, including the above dozen, the
prominence of the crest of the sternum relatively to its length,
independently of the size of the body. In two of the twenty-one birds the
crest was prominent in the same relative degree as in the rock-pigeon; in
seven it was more prominent; but in five out of these seven, namely, in a
Fantail, two Scanderoons, and two English Carriers, this greater prominence
may to a certain extent be explained, as a prominent breast is admired and
selected by fanciers; in the remaining twelve birds the prominence was
less. Hence it follows that the crest exhibits a slight, though uncertain,
tendency to be reduced in prominence in a greater degree than does the
length of the sternum relatively to the size of body, in comparison with
the rock-pigeon.
I have measured the length of the scapula in nine different large and
small-sized breeds, and in all the scapula is proportionally shorter
(taking the same standard as before) than in the wild rock-pigeon. The
reduction in length on an average is very nearly one-fifth of an inch, or
about one-ninth of the length of the scapula in the rock-pigeon.
The arms of the furcula in all the specimens which I compared, diverged
less, proportionally with the size of body, than in the rock-pigeon; and
the whole furculum was proportionally shorter. Thus in a Runt, which
measured from tip to tip of wings 38 1/2 inches, the furculum was only a
very little longer (with the arms hardly more divergent) than in a rock-
pigeon which measured from tip to tip 26 1/2 inches. In a Barb, which in
all its measurements was a little larger than the same rock-pigeon, the
furculum was a quarter of an inch shorter. In a Pouter, the furculum had
not been lengthened proportionally with the increased length of the body.
In a Short-faced Tumbler, which measured from tip to tip of wings 24
inches, therefore only 2 1/2 inches less than the rock-pigeon, the furculum
was barely two-thirds of the length of that of the rock-pigeon.]
We thus clearly see that the sternum, scapula, and furculum are all reduced
in proportional length; but when we turn to the wings we find what at first
appears a wholly different and unexpected result. I may here remark that I
have not picked out specimens, but have used every measurement made by me.
Taking the length from the base of beak to the end of the tail as the
standard of comparison, I find that, out of thirty-five birds of various
breeds, twenty-five have wings of greater, and ten have them of less
proportional length, than in the rock-pigeon. But from the frequently
correlated length of the tail and wing-feathers, it is better to take as
the standard of comparison the length from the base of the beak to the oil-
gland; and by this standard, out of twenty-six of the same birds which had
been thus measured, twenty-one had wings too long, and only five had them
too short. In the twenty-one birds the wings exceeded in length those of
the rock-pigeon, on an average, by 1 1/3 inch; whilst in the five birds
they were less in length by only .8 of an inch. As I was much surprised
that the wings of closely confined birds should thus so frequently have
been increased in length, it occurred to me that it might be solely due to
the greater length of the wing-feathers; for this certainly is the case
with the Jacobin, which has wings of unusual length. As in almost every
case I had measured the folded wings, I subtracted the length of this
terminal part from that of the expanded wings, and thus I obtained, with a
moderate degree of accuracy, the length of the wings from the ends of the
two radii, answering from wrist to wrist in our arms. The wings, thus
measured in the same twenty-five birds, now gave a widely different result;
for they were proportionally with those of the rock-pigeon too short in
seventeen birds, and in only eight too long. Of these eight birds, five
were long-beaked (5/39. It perhaps deserves notice that besides these five
birds two of the eight were Barbs, which, as I have shown, must be classed
in the same group with the long-beaked Carriers and Runts. Barbs may
properly be called short-beaked Carriers. It would, therefore, appear as
if, during the reduction of their beaks, their wings had retained a little
of that excess of length which is characteristic of their nearest relations
and progenitors.), and this fact perhaps indicates that there is some
correlation of the length of the beak with the length of the bones of the
wings, in the same manner as with that of the feet and tarsi. The
shortening of the humerus and radius in the seventeen birds may probably be
attributed to disuse, as in the case of the scapula and furculum to which
the wing-bones are attached;--the lengthening of the wing-feathers, and
consequently the expansion of the wings from tip to tip, being, on the
other hand, as completely independent of use and disuse as is the growth of
the hair or wool on our long-haired dogs or long-woolled sheep.
To sum up: we may confidently admit that the length of the sternum, and
frequently the prominence of its crest, the length of the scapula and
furculum, have all been reduced in size in comparison with the same parts
in the rock-pigeon. And I presume that this may be attributed to disuse or
lessened exercise. The wings, as measured from the ends of the radii, have
likewise been generally reduced in length; but, owing to the increased
growth of the wing-feathers, the wings, from tip to tip, are commonly
longer than in the rock-pigeon. The feet, as well as the tarsi conjointly
with the middle toe, have likewise in most cases become reduced; and this
it is probable has been caused by their lessened use; but the existence of
some sort of correlation between the feet and beak is shown more plainly
than the effects of disuse. We have also some faint indication of a similar
correlation between the main bones of the wing and the beak.
SUMMARY ON THE POINTS OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEVERAL DOMESTIC RACES, AND
BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL BIRDS.
The beak, together with the bones of the face, differ remarkably in length,
breadth, shape, and curvature. The skull differs in shape, and greatly in
the angle formed by the union of the pre-maxillary, nasal, and maxillo-
jugal bones. The curvature of the lower jaw and the reflection of its upper
margin, as well as the gape of the mouth, differ in a highly remarkable
manner. The tongue varies much in length, both independently and in
correlation with the length of the beak. The development of the naked,
wattled skin over the nostrils and round the eyes varies in an extreme
degree. The eyelids and the external orifices of the nostrils vary in
length, and are to a certain extent correlated with the degree of
development of the wattle. The size and form of the oesophagus and crop,
and their capacity for inflation, differ immensely. The length of the neck
varies. With the varying shape of the body, the breadth and number of the
ribs, the presence of processes, the number of the sacral vertebrae, and
the length of the sternum, all vary. The number and size of the coccygeal
vertebrae vary, apparently in correlation with the increased size of the
tail. The size and shape of the perforations in the sternum, and the size
and divergence of the arms of the furculum, differ. The oil-gland varies in
development, and is sometimes quite aborted. The direction and length of
certain feathers have been much modified, as in the hood of the Jacobin and
the frill of the Turbit. The wing and tail-feathers generally vary in
length together, but sometimes independently of each other and of the size
of the body. The number and position of the tail-feather vary to an
unparalleled degree. The primary and secondary wing-feathers occasionally
vary in number, apparently in correlation with the length of the wing. The
length of the leg and the size of the feet, and, in connection with the
latter, the number of the scutellae, all vary. A web of skin sometimes
connects the bases of the two inner toes, and almost invariably the two
outer toes when the feet are feathered.
The size of the body differs greatly: a Runt has been known to weigh more
than five times as much as a Short-faced Tumbler. The eggs differ in size
and shape. According to Parmentier (5/40. Temminck 'Hist. Nat. Gen. des
Pigeons et des Gallinaces' tome 1 1813 page 170.), some races use much
straw in building their nests, and others use little; but I cannot hear of
any recent corroboration of this statement. The length of time required for
hatching the eggs is uniform in all the breeds. The period at which the
characteristic plumage of some breeds is acquired, and at which certain
changes of colour supervene, differs. The degree to which the young birds
are clothed with down when first hatched is different, and is correlated in
a singular manner with the colour of the plumage. The manner of flight, and
certain inherited movements, such as clapping the wings, tumbling either in
the air or on the ground, and the manner of courting the female, present
the most singular differences. In disposition the several races differ.
Some races are very silent; others coo in a highly peculiar manner.
Although many different races have kept true in character during several
centuries, as we shall hereafter more fully see, yet there is far more
individual variability in the most constant breeds than in birds in a state
of nature. There is hardly any exception to the rule that those characters
vary most which are now most valued and attended to by fanciers, and which
consequently are now being improved by continued selection. This is
indirectly admitted by fanciers when they complain that it is much more
difficult to breed high fancy pigeons up to the proper standard of
excellence than the so-called toy pigeons, which differ from each other
merely in colour; for particular colours when once acquired are not liable
to continued improvement or augmentation. Some characters become attached,
from quite unknown causes, more strongly to the male than to the female
sex; so that we have in certain races, a tendency towards the appearance of
secondary sexual characters (5/41. This term was used by John Hunter for
such differences in structure between the males and females, as are not
directly connected with the act of reproduction, as the tail of the
peacock, the horns of deer, etc.) of which the aboriginal rock-pigeon
displays not a trace.