fancier. I know it is a great art and mystery, and a thing upon which a
man must not speak lightly; but I shall endeavour, as far as my
understanding goes, to give you a summary of the published and
unpublished information which I have gained from Mr. Darwin.

Among the enormous variety,--I believe there are somewhere about a
hundred and fifty kinds of pigeons,--there are four kinds which may be
selected as representing the extremest divergences of one kind from
another. Their names are the Carrier, the Pouter, the Fantail, and the
Tumbler. In the large diagrams they are each represented in their
relative sizes to each other. This first one is the Carrier; you will
notice this large excrescence on its beak; it has a comparatively small
head; there is a bare space round the eyes; it has a long neck, a very
long beak, very strong legs, large feet, long wings, and so on. The
second one is the Pouter, a very large bird, with very long legs and
beak. It is called the Pouter because it is in the habit of causing
its gullet to swell up by inflating it with air. I should tell you that
all pigeons have a tendency to do this at times, but in the Pouter it
is carried to an enormous extent. The birds appear to be quite proud
of their power of swelling and puffing themselves out in this way; and
I think it is about as droll a sight as you can well see to look at a
cage full of these pigeons puffing and blowing themselves out in this
ridiculous manner.

The third kind I mentioned--the Fantail--is a small bird, with
exceedingly small legs and a very small beak. It is most curiously
distinguished by the size and extent of its tail, which, instead of
containing twelve feathers, may have many more,--say thirty, or even
more--I believe there are some with as many as forty-two. This bird
has a curious habit of spreading out the feathers of its tail in such a