_Sub-race II. Dragons; Persian Carriers._—The English Dragon differs
from the improved English Carrier in being smaller in all its
dimensions, and in having less wattle round the eyes and over the
nostrils, and none on the lower mandible. Sir W. Elliot sent me from
Madras a Bagdad Carrier (sometimes called khandesi), the 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. The Hon. C. Murray, also, sent me two
Carriers direct from Persia; these had nearly the same character as the
Madras bird, being about as large as the rock-pigeon, but the beak in
one specimen was as much as 1·15 in length; the skin over the nostrils
was only moderately, and that round the eyes scarcely at all wattled.
_Sub-race III. Bagadotten-Tauben of Neumeister_ (Pavdotten-or
Hocker-Tauben).—I owe to the kindness of Mr. Baily, jun., a dead
specimen of this singular breed imported from Germany. It is
certainly allied to the Runts; nevertheless, from its close
affinity with Carriers, it will be convenient here to describe it.
The beak is long, and is hooked or bowed downwards in a highly
remarkable manner, as will be seen in fig. 24-D 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 first-rate English Carriers. The whole bird is of large size,
but in proportion to the size of the body the feathers of the wing
and tail are short; a wild rock-pigeon, of considerably less size,
had tail-feathers 4·6 inches in length, whereas in the large
Bagadotten these feathers were scarcely over 4·1 inches in length.
Riedel[9] remarks that it is a very silent bird.
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