t they do not." Speaking exclusively of one
sub-variety of one race, namely, the short-faced almond tumbler, and after
saying that some fanciers sacrifice every property to obtain a good head
and beak, and that other fanciers sacrifice everything for plumage, he
remarks: "Some young fanciers who are over covetous go in for all the five
properties at once, and they have their reward by getting nothing." In
India, as I hear from Mr. Blyth, pigeons are likewise selected and matched
with the greatest care. But we must not judge of the slight differences
which would have been valued in ancient days, by those which are now valued
after the formation of many races, each with its own standard of
perfection, kept uniform by our numerous {217} Exhibitions. The ambition of
the most energetic fancier may be fully satisfied by the difficulty of
excelling other fanciers in the breeds already established, without trying
to form a new one.

* * * * *

A difficulty with respect to the power of selection will perhaps already
have occurred to the reader, namely, what could have led fanciers first to
attempt to make such singular breeds as pouters, fantails, carriers, &c.?
But it is this very difficulty which the principle of unconscious selection
removes. Undoubtedly no fancier ever did intentionally make such an
attempt. All that we need suppose is that a variation occurred sufficiently
marked to catch the discriminating eye of some ancient fancier, and then
unconscious selection carried on for many generations, that is, the wish of
succeeding fanciers to excel their rivals, would do the rest. In the case
of the fantail we may suppose that the first progenitor of the breed had a
tail only slightly erected, as may now be seen in certain runts,[360] with
some increase in the number of the tail-feathers, as now occasionally
occurs with nuns. In the case of the pouter we may suppose that some bird
inflated its crop a little more than other pigeons, as is now the case in a
slight degree with the oesophagus of the turbit. We do not in the least
know the origin of the common tumbler, but we may suppose that a bird was
born with some affection of the brain, leading it to make somersaults in
the air; and the difficulty in this case is lessened, as we know that,
before the year 1600, in India, pigeons remarkable for their diversified
manner of flight were much valued, and by the order of the Emperor Akber
Khan were s