_Sub-race II. Common Frill-back_ (die Strupptaube).—_Beak rather longer
than in the rock-pigeon; feathers reversed._—This is a considerably
larger bird than the rock-pigeon, and with the beak, proportionally
with the size of body, a little (viz. by ·04 of an inch) longer. The
feathers, especially on the wing-coverts, have their points curled
upwards or back-wards.
_Sub-race III. Nuns_ (Pigeons coquilles).—These elegant birds are
smaller than the rock-pigeon. The beak is actually 1·7, and
proportionally with the size of the body ·1 of an inch shorter than in
the rock-pigeons, although of the same thickness. In young birds the
scutellæ on the tarsi and toes are generally of a leaden-black 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 breed called Helmets. Nuns are
symmetrically coloured, with the head, primary wing-feathers, tail, and
tail-coverts of the same colour, namely, black or red, and with the
rest of the body white. This breed has retained the same character
since Aldrovandi wrote in 1600. I have received from Madras almost
similarly coloured birds.
_Sub-race IV. Spots_ (die Blasstauben; pigeons heurtés).—These
birds are a very little larger than the rock-pigeon, with the beak
a trace smaller in all its 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 colour, the
rest of the body being white. This breed existed in 1676;[22] and
in 1735 Moore remarks that they breed truly, as is the case at the
present day.
_Sub-race V. Swallows._—These birds, as measured from tip to tip of
wing, or from the end of the beak to the end of the tail, exceed in
size the rock-pigeon; but their bodies are much less bulky; their feet
and legs 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 same colour, the rest of the body being white. Their
flight is said to be peculiar. This seems to be a modern breed, which,
however, originated before the year 1795 in Germany, for it is
described by Bechstein.
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