Fantail

“ The bird cannot fly well, and when walking about it appears to be strutting to make a display of its spectacular tail. Its appearance is in this respect deceptive, for it is a very modest bird and has difficulty in balancing itself in any other position. The Fantail is gentle and affectionate, and is the best of all pigeons for those who want birds for pets. It is bred in many color varieties. The White Fantail is the most popular, because it is the most showy and the easiest to produce with uniform color in a flock. ”

“ Variation seems to have reached its limits in these birds. But so it has in nature. The fantail has not only more tail-feathers than any of the three hundred and forty existing species of pigeons, but more than any of the eight thousand known species of birds. There is, of course, some limit to the number of feathers of which a tail useful for flight can consist, and in the fantail we have probably reached that limit. Many birds have the œsophagus or the skin of the neck more or less dilatable, but in no known bird is it so dilatable as in the pouter pigeon. ”

“ There is no bird in the bush easier to recognize or pleasanter to watch. They run along the branches and dart and tumble through the air in fearless chase of invisible flies and moths. All the time they keep unfolding and furling their rounded tails, spreading them out and waving them and closing them suddenly, just as the Cuban girls manage their fans. In fact, the redstarts are the tiny fantail pigeons of the forest. ”

“ Fantail.—This well-known and curious variety is characterized by its possessing the power of erecting its tail in the manner of a turkey cock, during which action it trembles or shakes its neck in a similar way to the peacock when moving about with his train expanded and in full display. The chief colour of the fantail is pure white, but black, blue and other hues are met with. The head is narrow and flat, the beak long and slender, the legs and feet naked, the tail-feathers long and broad. When flying, the fantail contracts its tail contrary to the habit of other pigeons. ”

“ The fantail and pouter pigeons are two very distinct and unlike breeds, which we yet know to have been both derived from the common wild rock-pigeon. Now, if we had every variety of living pigeon before us, or even all those which have lived during the present century, we should find no intermediate types between these two—none combining in any degree the characters of the pouter with that of the fantail. ”

“ The fantail has thirty or even forty tail-feathers, instead of twelve or fourteen, the normal number in all members of the great pigeon family; and these feathers are kept expanded, and are carried so erect that in good birds the head and tail touch; the oil-gland is quite aborted. ”

“ Fantails.—The first notice of the existence of this breed is in India, before the year 1600, as given in the 'Ayeen Akbery;' [39] at this date, judging from Aldrovandi, the breed was unknown in Europe. In 1677 Willughby speaks of a Fantail with 26 tail-feathers; in 1735 Moore saw one with 36 feathers; and in 1824 MM. Boitard and Corbié assert that in France birds can easily be found with 42 tail-feathers. In England, the number of the tail-feathers is not at present so much regarded as their upward direction and expansion. The general carriage of the bird is likewise now much regarded. ”

“ In making reciprocal crosses between pouter and fantail pigeons, the pouter- race seemed to be prepotent through both sexes over the fantail. But this is probably due to weak power in the fantail rather than to any unusually strong power in the pouter, for I have observed that barbs also preponderate over fantails. This weakness of transmission in the fantail, though the breed is an ancient one, is said (14/9. Boitard and Corbie 'Les Pigeons' 1824 page 224.) to be general ”

“ C., B., and A. simultaneously run over roofs and walls to get near the birds. But B. and A. have a long way to travel, while happy C. is close by; he crouches double, and carrying in one hand a kind of landing-net, makes for the birds; in his bosom is a fantail pigeon, in his left hand some grain. Artful B. throws a stone and his two birds rise and fly home, and with a fancier’s delight he watches C.; but A. is too far off for this manœuvre, and hurries over roof after roof. Too late! C. has tossed his fantail down near A.’s bird, the fantail, struts about calling [96] “Ba-ba-koo, ba-ba-koo!” ”

“ The man who first selected a pigeon with a slightly larger tail, never dreamed what the descendants of that pigeon would become through long-continued, partly unconscious and partly methodical, selection. Perhaps the parent bird of all fantails had only fourteen tail-feathers somewhat expanded, like the present Java fantail, or like individuals of other and distinct breeds, in which as many as seventeen tail-feathers have been counted. ”

“ The Red Fantail, ever flitting about with broadly expanded tail, and performing all manner of fantastic evolutions, in its diligent pursuit of gnats and flies, is one of the most pleasing and attractive objects in the New Zealand forest. ”

“ The model fantail should have a nervous jerky motion and never be at rest. Each of these points is given a certain value on a scale of marking and in judging the birds they are marked just as you may be in your lessons at school. The fancier tries to breed a bird that comes the nearest to this model. The prizes are sometimes of great value.
There is an enormous list of breeds in nearly all varieties of animals and poultry. ”

“ Molt.—Many of the specimens examined that were taken in November and December are in fresh or slightly worn plumage. Only a few are molting. Apparently molt occurs earlier, perhaps beginning in August and continuing until October or November.
Remarks.—Coultas obtained a large series of these birds at Ponapé in 1931. He writes (field notes) that the fantail is a common bird and is found in forest and brush lands. This bird has a nervous behavior similar to that of other fantails and is constantly "wagging its long tail." ”

“ Good birds walk in a singular manner, as if their small feet were stiff. Owing to their large tails, they fly badly on a windy day. The dark-coloured varieties are generally larger than white Fantails. Although between the best and common Fantails, now existing in England, there is a vast difference in the position and size of the tail, in the carriage of the head and neck, in the convulsive movements of the neck, in the manner of walking, and in the breadth of the breast, the differences so graduate away, that it is impossible to make more than one sub-race. ”

“ For example, the breeders of white fantail pigeons agree that perfect birds shall be of certain shape and size, with the head resting on the back just at the base of the tail; the tail should be spread out like a fan and contain at least twenty-eight feathers. ”

“ In these experiments the cross was made between black barbs and white fantails. The F1 birds were all black with some white splashes, evidently due to a separate factor introduced by the fantail. On breeding these blacks together they gave an F2 generation, consisting of blacks (with or without white splashes) , blues (with or without white splashes) , and whites in the ratio 9 : 3 : 4. The factors concerned are colour (C) , in the absence of {67}which a bird is white, and a black modifier (B) , in the absence of which a coloured bird is blue. ”

“ The fantail is one of the most attractive birds found in the jungles of the Palau Islands. Its bright rufous coloring is conspicuously displayed by the rapid movements of the wings and tail as the bird moves and feeds in the undergrowth. The population is apparently not large, and the individual or pair of birds probably ranges in a relatively large home territory.
Evolutionary History of Rhipidura in Micronesia.—The evolutionary history of Rhipidura in Micronesia has been studied considerably more than that of some of the other genera in the area. ”

“ It moves rapidly about continually fluttering its wings and spreading its long fanlike tail. The birds are usually observed in pairs. On January 21, 1945, E. W. Coleman of the NAMRU2 party killed a fantail but before he could retrieve it, a large toad (Bufo marinus) seized the fallen bird and carried it into a hole in the ground.
Rhipidura rufifrons saipanensis Hartert Rufous-fronted Fantail
Rhipidura saipanensis Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 54. (Type locality, Saipan) .
Rhipidura versicolor Oustalet, Le Nat., 1889, p. 260 (Mariannes = Saipan) ; Wiglesworth (part) , Abhandl. und Ber. ”

“ Fantails have been selected for their large, widely-expanded tails, with numerous tail-feathers, and the caudal vertebræ are increased in size and number. Carriers have been selected for length of beak, and their tongues have become longer, but not in strict accordance with the length of beak. In this latter breed and in others having large feet, the number of the scutellæ on the toes is greater than in the breeds with small feet. Many similar cases could be given. In Germany it has been observed that the period of gestation is longer in large-sized than in small-sized breeds of cattle. ”

“ In India, as I hear from Mr. Blyth, the inhabitants of Delhi and of some other great cities are eager fanciers. Mr. Layard informs me that most of the known breeds are kept in Ceylon. In China, according to Mr. Swinhoe of Amoy, and Dr. Lockhart of Shanghai, carriers, fantails, tumblers, and other varieties are reared with care, especially by the bonzes, or priests.
“The Chinese fasten a kind of whistle to the tail-feathers of their pigeons, and as the flock wheels through the air, they produce a sweet sound.104 In Egypt, the late Abbas Pacha was a great fancier of fantails. ”

“ Fannin; "a very abundant bird here, found everywhere on the salt water. It's more plentiful in the Gulf of Georgia than it is up here in the inlet, but it's plenty enough everywhere. They breed on many of the islands, rearing their young in the rocks. They are industrious little birds, as you see, and are constantly diving for food. They eat a crustacean which looks to me a good deal like the crawfish that I used to see back East; and if you watch, you will see that many of these birds which fly by the vessel are carrying this crustacean in their bills. ”

“ The snare was cut by Rongemail, (For so the rat they rightly hail) . Conceive their joy yourself you may. Just then the hunter came that way, And, 'Who hath filch'd my prey?' Cried he, upon the spot Where now his prey was not.-- A hole hid Rongemail; A tree the bird as well; The woods, the free gazelle. The hunter, well nigh mad, To find no inkling could be had, Espied the tortoise in his path, And straightway check'd his wrath. 'Why let my courage flag, Because my snare has chanced to miss? I'll have a supper out of this.' He said, and put it in his bag. ”

“ But when the frames of poles were made into tepees by being covered with cloth and skins, White Fang was astounded. It was the colossal bulk of them that impressed him. They arose around him, on every side, like some monstrous quick-growing form of life. ”

“ At his death Juno either transformed him into the peacock, or transferred his hundred eyes to the tail of that, her favourite, bird. "Argus tail of gold and green," therefore, means tail endowed with the eyes of Argus. ”

“ Necessity, ingenious mother, Brought forth what help'd them from their pother. As still there was a chance to save their prey,-- The spunger yet some hundred yards away,-- One seized the egg, and turn'd upon his back, And then, in spite of many a thump and thwack, That would have torn, perhaps, a coat of mail, The other dragg'd him by the tail. Who dares the inference to blink, That beasts possess wherewith to think? Were I commission'd to bestow This power on creatures here below, The beasts should have as much of mind As infants of the human kind. ”

“ Thus the fan-tail breed has been developed until the creatures display their unornamental tail feathers with all the dignity with which a peacock shows his marvellous decorations. The pouters have in some unaccountable way learned to take air into their crop; and the habit has been developed by selection until the bird destroys all trace of his original shapeliness, though he seems to take pride in his diseased appearance. ”

“ These fangs are three to four inches long in a tiger or a lion; they are not quite so big in a leopard or other feline. The fangs of the tiger or the lion are so strong that he can hold down a heavy bullock by gripping it with his fangs. He can also drag the bullock along the ground by gripping it in that way, and can use the fangs to tear out a large piece of meat from the body of his prey. ”

“ To tell the truth his appearance is a little tousled: one tail feather is missing, lost in a fight, that is unless he has encountered some bad fairy in the village. Fanny suspects him of having a bad head; but she is a girl, and it does not worry her that her cock sparrow has a bad head if his heart is good. She pets him and calls him pretty names. All of a sudden he grows bigger and longer: his wings change into two arms. ”

“ Skin, bone, and feathers. Ugh! you would only trouble me in my empty stomach, and there study out at leisure the various odds and ends of my organisation. No, no! get up; give my mouth a wide berth; sit on my tail, if you like the fur.”
Concealing my dread of his hungry fangs, I perched lightly on the tail, where I was not unfrequently disturbed by the tremor of his emotions.
Fellow Sparrows, the tail of a beast of prey is the safest perch, and it affords a true index of the play of passion in the brute. ”