THE POUTER.
The breeds of pigeons that are most valued by fanciers are those that differ in the greatest degree from the blue rock doves and the common mongrel dove-house pigeons. Of these the Pouters, Carriers, and Tumblers are the most esteemed. The pouter is a remarkable bird, distinguished by the extraordinary power it possesses of inflating or blowing out the neck: it is also characterised by the extreme length of its legs, which should be feathered to the toes, and the length of the feathers of the wings and tail. Pouters are of various colours: some are purely white, but in general they are blue, or black, marked or pied with white upon the crop, and with white flight feathers in the wings; there are also red and yellow pied birds.
The properties for which a pouter is valued are usually stated as being five in number; viz. length of leg, length of feathers, slenderness of body, size of crop, and colour. Pouters possessing all these properties of the breed in a very perfect degree are rare, and consequently very valuable. Ten, or even twenty, pounds is no uncommon price for a pair of birds sufficiently good to win prizes in the competitions at the exhibitions of poultry and pigeons; but very fair specimens may be bought at the dealer’s for a few shillings per pair.
Pouters are not such good nurses as many other pigeons, often neglecting their young before they can feed themselves, when they die, unless fed by being crammed with beans at least twice a day. For this reason we would not recommend the young fancier to begin with this breed.
THE CARRIER.
The Carrier of the present day is not, as its name might seem to imply, ever used to carry messages, but is a high-class fancy variety, valued in proportion to the perfection of its properties. In a good carrier the beak is long, thick, and straight; the beak-wattle, or membrane at its base, well developed, and standing well up from the head. The eye-wattle, or membrane round the eye, should be large, flat, and circular; the skull narrow and long; the neck very slender and long; the plumage firm and glossy, the tail and flight feathers being long. The colour most valued in carriers is a brilliant jet black: many first-rate birds are what are called duns, a variety of brown. There are also white and blue carriers, and occasionally pied birds are seen. The blacks and duns are, however, the most perfect in properties; and they may be mated together without risk, as they will always produce either black or dun young birds, and not, as might be expected, a mixture of these colours, or a bird intermediate in colour between the two.
Carriers are very fair sitters and nurses, but they are subject to diseases of the eyes, and are not as well suited to young fanciers as some of the other breeds.
