Fulton's Book of Pigeons; With Standards for Judging (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 edition. Excerpt: ...instead of nearly complete. The common Fantail is of vigorous constitution, and lives usually to a good age, on which account it will bear in-breeding to any reasonable degree. VVe have known many twelve or fifteen years old; and even the small Scotch birds are, as a rule, also hardy and good nurses. But they have, as Mr. Ure says, the peculiarity that when they do go wrong, they generally go off all at once; and it is another singular thing that their " motion" seems to cease as suddenly. The Scotch style of bird, in whole or part, is now superscding the coarser bird, even those who used to show the English style having, as already indicated, crossed their strains with the smaller, and thus greatly improved them. Ve know for certain that much has been done successfully in this way by crossing the best and smallest English Fans, with good and large tails, from good Scotch stock that has form and motion. Messrs. Collingwood, Harvey, Lee, and Harmston, of the Fantail Club, have adopted this plan with great success. Many Scotch birds have, undoubtedly, too little tail, and others too much motion, but by their crossing they impart valuable properties to coarser stock. Each variety, in fact, except unusual specimens of Scotch Fantails, does need a cross from the other, to give the one more tail and the other form and motion. It is thus the best birds are produced, and, no doubt, we shall ere long see the whole amalgamated into one race---the true British type, but with a little more tail (speaking as compared with the bulk of Scotch Fans), derived from the English bird. Fantails with so much motion that they cannot breed, can often be got to do so by keeping them in very small pens. The excessive nervousness wears off after two or...