The great difference (see figure 27) in the curvature of the lower jaw in
the rock-pigeon, the Tumbler, and Bagadotten Carrier, stands in obvious
relation to the curvature of the upper jaw, and more especially to the
angle 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 figure 25) is not strictly correlated
with the width or divergence (as may be clearly seen in figure 26) of the
premaxillary bones, but with the breadth of the horny and soft parts of the
upper mandible, which are always overlapped by the edges of the lower
mandible.
In Pouters, the elongation of the body is a selected character, and the
ribs, as we have seen, have generally become very broad, with the seventh
pair furnished with processes; the sacral and caudal vertebrae have been
augmented in number; 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 number of the caudal vertebrae have increased.
Hence, during the gradual progress of variation and selection, the internal
bony framework and the external shape of the body have been, to a certain
extent, modified in a correlated manner.
Although the wings and tail often vary in length independently of each
other, it is scarcely possible to doubt that they generally tend to become
elongated or shortened in correlation. This is well seen in Jacobins, and
still more plainly in Runts, some varieties of which have their wings and
tail of great length, whilst others have both very short. With Jacobins,
the remarkable length of the tail and wing-feathers is not a character
which is intentionally selected by fanciers; but fanciers have been trying
for centuries, 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 stand 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, that these Tumblers generally have only nine instead of ten
primaries. I have myself observed this in eight birds; and the Original
Columbarian Society (5/37. J.M. Eaton 'Treatise' edition 1858 page 78.)
reduced the standard for Bald-head Tumblers from ten to nine white flight-
feathers, thinking it unfair that a bird which had only nine feathers
should be disqualified for a prize because it had not ten WHITE flight-
feathers. On the other hand, in Carriers and Runts, which have large bodies
and long wings, eleven primary feathers have occasionally been observed.
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