ited at
the Philoperisteron Club. 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."[303] {161}
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.[304]

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,[305] 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 character of the
different 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