But here is the last great variety,--the Tumbler; and of that great variety, one of the principal kinds, and one most prized, is the specimen represented here--the short-faced Tumbler.Its beak is reduced to a mere nothing.Just compare the beak of this one and that of the first one, the Carrier--I believe the orthodox comparison of the head and beak of a thoroughly well-bred Tumbler is to stick an oat into a cherry, and that will give you the proper relative proportions of the head and beak.The feet and legs are exceedingly small, and the bird appears to be quite a dwarf when placed side by side with this great Carrier.
These are differences enough in regard to their external appearance; but these differences are by no means the whole or even the most important of the differences which obtain between these birds.There is hardly a single point of their structure which has not become more or less altered; and to give you an idea of how extensive these alterations are, I have here some very good skeletons, for which I am indebted to my friend, Mr.Tegetmeier, a great authority in these matters; by means of which, if you examine them by-and-by, you will be able to see the enormous difference in their bony structures.
I had the privilege, some time ago, of access to some important MSS.of Mr.Darwin, who, I may tell you, has taken very great pains and spent much valuable time and attention on the investigation of these variations, and getting together all the facts that bear upon them.Iobtained from these MSS.the following summary of the differences between the domestic breeds of pigeons; that is to say, a notification of the various points in which their organization differs.In the first place, the back of the skull may differ a good deal, and the development of the bones of the face may vary a great deal; the back varies a good deal; the shape of the lower jaw varies; the tongue varies very greatly, not only in correlation to the length and size of the beak, but it seems also to have a kind of independent variation of its own.Then the amount of naked skin round the eyes, and at the base of the beak, may vary enormously; so may the length of the eyelids, the shape of the nostrils, and the length of the neck.I have already noticed the habit of blowing out the gullet, so remarkable in the Pouter, and comparatively so in the others.There are great differences, too, in the size of the female and the male, the shape of the body, the number and width of the processes of the ribs, the development of the ribs, and the size, shape, and development of the breastbone.We may notice, too,--and I mention the fact because it has been disputed by what is assumed to be high authority,--the variation in the number of the sacral vertebrae.The number of these varies from eleven to fourteen, and that without any diminution in the number of the vertebrae of the back or of the tail.Then the number and position of the tail-feathers may vary enormously, and so may the number of the primary and secondary feathers of the wings.Again, the length of the feet and of the beak,--although they have no relation to each other, yet appear to go together,--that is, you have a long beak wherever you have long feet.There are differences also in the periods of the acquirement of the perfect plumage,--the size and shape of the eggs,--the nature of flight, and the powers of flight,--so-called "homing" birds having enormous flying powers;* while, on the other hand, the little Tumbler is so called because of its extraordinary faculty of turning head over heels in the air, instead of pursuing a direct course.And, lastly, the dispositions and voices of the birds may vary.Thus the case of the pigeons shows you that there is hardly a single particular,--whether of instinct, or habit, or bony structure, or of plumage,--of either the internal economy or the external shape, in which some variation or change may not take place, which, by selective breeding, may become perpetuated, and form the foundation of, and give rise to, a new race.
[footnote: The "Carrier," I learn from Mr.Tegetmeier, does not 'carry'; a high-bred bird of this breed being but a poor flier.The birds which fly long distances, and come home,--"homing" birds,--and are consequently used as carriers, are not "carriers" in the fancy sense.]
If you carry in your mind's eye these four varieties of pigeons, you will bear with you as good a notion as you can have, perhaps, of the enormous extent to which a deviation from a primitive type may be carried by means of this process of selective breeding.
End
