statements to the contrary, it seems to me
impossible to recognise the barb in Aldrovandi's descriptions and
figures; four breeds, however, existed in the year 1600 which were
evidently allied both to Barbs and Carriers. To show how difficult it
is to recognise some of the breeds described by Aldrovandi, I will give
the different opinions in regard to the above four kinds, named by him
_C. Indica_, _Cretensis_, _Gutturosa_, and _Persica_. Willughby thought
that the _Columba Indica_ was a {211} Turbit, but the eminent fancier
Mr. Brent believes that it was an inferior Barb: _C. Cretensis_, with a
short beak and a swelling on the upper mandible, cannot be recognised:
_C._ (falsely called) _gutturosa_, which from its _rostrum_, _breve_,
_crassum_, et _tuberosum_ seems to me to come nearest to the Barb, Mr.
Brent believes to be a Carrier; and lastly, the _C. Persica et
Turcica,_ Mr. Brent thinks, and I quite concur with him, was a
short-beaked Carrier with very little wattle. In 1687 the Barb was
known in England, and Willughby describes the beak as like that of the
Turbit; but it is not credible that his Barb should have had a beak
like that of our present birds, for so accurate an observer could not
have overlooked its great breadth.

_English Carrier._--We may look in vain in Aldrovandi's work for any
bird resembling our prize Carriers; the _C. Persica et Turcica_ of this
author comes the nearest, but is said to have had a short thick beak;
therefore it must have approached in character a Barb, and have
differed greatly from our Carriers. In Willughby's time, in 1677, we
can clearly recognise the Carrier, but he adds, "the bill is not short,
but of a moderate length," a description which no one would apply to
our present Carriers, so conspicuous for the extraordinary length of
their beaks. The old names given in Europe to the Carrier, and the
several names now in use in India, indicate that Carriers originally
came from Persia; and Willughby's description would perfectly apply to
the Bussorah Carrier as it now exists in Madras. In later times we can
partially trace the progress of change in our English Carriers: Moore
in 1735 says "an inch and a half is reckoned a long beak, though there
are very good Carriers that are found not to exceed an inch and a
quarter." These birds must have rese