The offspring from the first cross between two pure breeds is tolerably and sometimes (as I have found with pigeons) quite uniform in character, and every thing seems simple enough; but when these mongrels are crossed one with another for several generations, hardly two of them are alike, and then the difficulty of the task becomes manifest.
BREEDS OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON, THEIR DIFFERENCES AND ORIGIN.
Believing that it is always best to study some special group, I have, after deliberation, taken up domestic pigeons.

I have kept every breed which I could purchase or obtain, and have been most kindly favoured with skins from several quarters of the world, more especially by the Hon.W.Elliot from India, and by the Hon.C.Murray from Persia.

Many treatises in different languages have been published on pigeons, and some of them are very important, as being of considerable antiquity.

I have associated with several eminent fanciers, and have been permitted to join two of the London Pigeon Clubs.

The diversity of the breeds is something astonishing.