Since the year 1765 there has been some change in one of the chief characters of the short-faced Tumbler, namely, in the length of the beak. Fanciers measure the "head and beak" from the tip of the beak to the front corner of the eyeball. About the year 1765 a "head and beak" was considered good,[357] which, measured in the usual manner, was 7/8 of an inch in length; now it ought not to exceed 5/8 of an inch; "it is however possible," as Mr. Eaton candidly confesses, "for a bird to be considered as pleasant or neat even at 6/8 of an inch, but exceeding that length it must be looked upon as unworthy of attention." Mr. Eaton states that he has never seen in the course of his life more than two or three birds with the "head and beak" not exceeding half an inch in length; "still I believe in the course of a few years that the head and beak will be shortened, and that half-inch birds will not be considered so great a curiosity as at the present time." That Mr. Eaton's opinion deserves attention cannot be doubted, considering his success in winning prizes at our exhibitions. Finally in regard to the Tumbler it may be concluded from the facts above given that it was originally introduced into Europe, probably first into England, from the East; and that it then resembled our common English Tumbler, or more probably the Persian or Indian Tumbler, with a beak only just perceptibly shorter than that of the common dovecot-pigeon. With respect to the short-faced Tumbler, which is not known to exist in the East, there can hardly be a doubt that the whole wonderful change in the size of the head, beak, body, and feet, and in general carriage, has been produced during the last two centuries by continued selection, aided probably by the birth of a semi-monstrous bird somewhere about the year 1750.
_Runts._--Of their history little can be said. In the time of Pliny the pigeons of Campania were the largest known; and from this fact alone some authors assert that they were Runts. In Aldrovandi's time, in 1600, two sub-breeds existed; but one of them, the short-beaked, is now extinct in Europe.
_Barbs._--Notwithstanding statements to the contrary, it seems to me impossible to recognise the barb in Aldrovandi's descriptions and figures; four breeds, however, existed in the year 1600 which were evidently allied both to Barbs and Carriers. To show how difficult it is to recognise some of the breeds described by Aldrovandi, I will give the different opinions in regard to the above four kinds, named by him _C. Indica_, _Cretensis_, _Gutturosa_, and _Persica_. Willughby thought that the _Columba Indica_ was a { 211} Turbit, but the eminent fancier Mr. Brent believes that it was an inferior Barb: _C. Cretensis_, with a short beak and a swelling on the upper mandible, cannot be recognised: _C._ (falsely called) _gutturosa_, which from its _rostrum_, _breve_, _crassum_, et _tuberosum_ seems to me to come nearest to the Barb, Mr. Brent believes to be a Carrier; and lastly, the _C. Persica et Turcica,_ Mr. Brent thinks, and I quite concur with him, was a short-beaked Carrier with very little wattle. In 1687 the Barb was known in England, and Willughby describes the beak as like that of the Turbit; but it is not credible that his Barb should have had a beak like that of our present birds, for so accurate an observer could not have overlooked its great breadth.