The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication

LATION 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 EFFECT

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 will regret this; and no one who has kept pigeons and has marked the great difference between the

tons of all. I have received skins from Persia, and a large number from India and other quarters of the world.[275] Since my ad

y 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 Columbid? in the British Museum, and, with the exception of a few forms (such as the Didunculus, Cal?nas, Goura, &c), 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[278] 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, straig

ra. 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 s

eing large or small, I always refer to the wild rock-pigeon (Columba livia) as th

escribed), 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 table show us the most distinct breeds, or those which have undergone the greatest amount of modification. The lengths of the dotted lines rudely r

lumba livia.[280] The parent-fo

ou

strongly marked sub-race be taken, namely, the Improved English Po

-English

opf-tauben, German. Grosses

from the crop, often inflated. Body and le

even close up to the head. The beak in one bird which I possessed was almost completely buried when the ?sophagus 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 p

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 .03 of an inch), proportionally with the size of the body, and relatively to the beak of the rock-pigeon. The Po

I suspect that they were not pure birds. They are smaller than English pouters, and less well developed in all t

arge 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 claq

onsiderably different. The upper part of the ?sophagus 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 th

up

rock-pigeon. Yet, if well-characterised Carriers and Barbs (see figs. 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 n

Türkische Taube: Pig

urrounded by much naked, generally caru

-English

he 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 o

e 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. T

highly remarkable manner, as will be seen in the woodcut to be hereafter given 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 firs

itten about 100 years ago, the Bagdad and Bussorah breeds are described as distinct. The Bussorah Carrier is of about the same size with 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 lengt

ghtly elongated, with the skin over the nostrils rather full, and with a little naked skin round the eyes. This breed seems more

the Kala 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 rou

entiner-Taube and Hinkel-Taube of Neume

ssive; body o

s. 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

he 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 t

e specified characters (for the beak is not mentioned), except that Neumeister expressly says that the neck is

ked patches on the wings are absent. One of my birds measured 38? inches from tip to tip of wing. By taking the length of the body as the standard of comparison, the two wings were no loss than 5 inches longer than those of the rock-pigeon! The tail was 6? inches in length, and therefore 2? inches longer than that of the Scanderoon,-a bird of nearly the same size. The beak is longer,

ound 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 Bo

as 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

arger than the largest rock-pigeon, with longer and more massive beaks. The skin over the nostrils is rather full and very slightly carunculated, an

ts. 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 som

Indische-Taube: P

ound the eyes, broad and carunculated

.-Engli

nity 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 swo

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 nostrils 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

up

may be defined by the beak, in well-characterised specimens of the several races, being

V.-Fa

s). Tail expanded, directed upwards, formed of many fe

-English

, 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 vertebr?. 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.[287] The neck is thin and bowed backwards. The bre

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,[288] says, that in 1735 there were two

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 Europ

Owl. (M?ven-Taube:

eck and breast; beak very short, vertically

.-Afric

as along the back of the neck in the Jacobin. This bird has the remarkable habit of continually, and momentarily inflating the upper part of the ?sophagus, which causes a movement in the frill. When the ?sophagus of a dead bird was inflated, it was seen to be larger than in other breeds, and not so distinctly separated from the crop. The Pouter inflates both its true crop and ?sophagus; t

(Tümmler, or Burzel-

enerally small; beak generally short, s

aces include many varieties which breed true. I have examined eight skeletons of various kinds of Tumblers: excepti

ed 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 Tumbl

iately 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 strictly inherited since before the year 1600, for the b

other in the length of their beaks. Mr. Brent sent me a dead specimen of a "House-tumbler,"[291] 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, w

rt-faced Eng

14 oz. 2 drs., and a Runt 34 oz. 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 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 ha

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.

-Indian F

hort; feath

ns 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 o

(Zopf or Perücke

ng a hood; wings and tail

ted. Both the wings and tail are likewise much elongated; thus the folded wing of the Jacobin, though a somewhat smaller bird, is fully 1? 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? inches too long, and the two wings, from tip to tip, 5?

up

ally in the beak, to the rock-pigeon. The Trumpeter forms the only well-marked race. Of the numerous other sub

Trommel-Taube; Pigeo

ing forward; feet much feathered; voice very pe

t 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 ro

ring in structure from

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.

s a considerably larger bird than the rock-pigeons and with the beak, proportionally with the size of body, a little (vi

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 br

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 c

egs 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

h respect to the Ground-tumbler of India. MM. Boitard and Corbié describe a pigeon[298] 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, &c., 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[299] briefly describes and figures this bird, with a tail "having completely the structure of

ether there must exist, as previously stated, above 150 kinds which can be distinguished, though generally by characters of extremely slight importance. Many of the genera of the Columbid?, which are 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 impr

ity; Variations of

nciers 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

s than twelve or more than sixteen tail-feathers; and these numbers characterise, with rare exception, whole sub-families.[301] 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 han

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

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

reafter 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 r

ed 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] Neumeister describes a breed of a black colour with white bars on the w

hich 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 t

s is an unusual circumstance. Mr. Harrison Weir, a successful breeder of prize Fantails, informs me that his cock birds often have a greater number of tail-feathers than the hens. Mr. Eaton asserts[306] 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[307] of a wine-coloured variety of the Pouter, in which the male is gen

l size. A. Wild Rock-pigeon, Columba livia. B. Short-fa

ical Cha

on; for fanciers can neither see, nor do they care for, modifications of structure in the internal framework. Nor ought we to expect changes in the skeletons from hanged 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 c

f 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 b

m above, of natural size. A.

of natural size, showing the reflexed mar

, beyond the middle, is reflexed in an equally remarkable manner, as may be seen in the accompanying figures, in comparison with the jaw of the rock-pigeon. This reflexion 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 reflexion is well shown in fig. 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 e

tural size. A. Rock-pigeon. B. Short

a Bussorah carrier from India, the twelfth vertebra carried a small r

n 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 v

, there are thirteen or even fourteen, and, as we shall immediately see, an additional number of caudal vertebr?. In runts and carriers there is generally the proper

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 vertebr?. I have see

ill show the most remarkable deviations in the num

Pig

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Mr.

mb

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unded on both sides than in the rock-pigeon, The ischium is also frequently rather more elongated. The obturator-notch is som

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 the woodcut, fig. 28, the scapul? of the rock-pigeon (A), and of a short-faced tumbler (B), are given. The pr

size. A. Short-faced Tumbler

in a remarkable mariner. In fig. 29, B and C represent the furcul? of two fantails; and it will be seen that the divergence in B is rather less even than in the furcula of the short-faced, small-sized tumbler (A); w

r, 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

ased 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 t

ier, 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

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 woodcut No. 25) is not strictly correlated with

ber; 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 nu

nturies, 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 stands 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,

or dun-coloured, are born almost naked; whereas other coloured pigeons are born well clothed with down. Mr. Esquilant, however, has observed that young dun carriers are not so bare as young dun barbs

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 considera

se in number. To give a single instance, I have counted eight scutell? 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 scutell? on the feet is u

ings, I may premise, in order to give some confidence to the reader, that my measurements were all made in the same manner, and

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

bl

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length of feet, in proportion to length o

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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 and exceptional cases can be explained; for instance, with pouters the legs and feet are selected

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 greyhound 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,

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

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 with all twelve birds three standards of measurement, namely, the length from the base of the beak to the oil-gland, to the end of the tail, and from the

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.

2) shorter than in the rock-pigeon, proportionally with the size of their bodies; so that the sternum has b

k-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 remain

proportionally shorter (taking the same standard as before) than in the wild rock-pigeon. The reduction in length on

very little longer (with the arms hardly more divergent) than in a rock-pigeon which measured from tip to tip 26? inches. In a barb, which in all its measurements was a little larger than the same rock-pigeon, the furcula was a quarter of an inch shorter. In a pouter, the furcula

gs 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? 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 th

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

ices 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 ?sophagus 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 vertebr?, and the length of the sternum, all vary. The number and size of the coccygeal vertebr? 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 furcula, differ. The oil-gland varies in development, and is sometimes quite abort

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 f

anciers, 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