Pouters, also, have eight or nine caudal vertebrae. I have seen eight in a Nun and Jacobin. Tumblers, though such small birds, always have the normal number seven; as have Carriers, with one exception, in which there were only six.
The following table will serve as a summary, and will show the most remarkable deviations in the number of the vertebra and ribs which I have observed:--
TABLE 4. NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE AND RIBS IN:
1. THE ROCK PIGEON. Cervical Vertebrae: 12. Dorsal Vertebrae: 8. Dorsal Ribs: 8. The 6th pair with processes, the 7th pair without a process. Sacral Vertebrae: 12. Caudal Vertebrae: 7. Total: 39.
2. POUTER, FROM MR. BULT. Cervical Vertebrae: 12. Dorsal Vertebrae: 8. Dorsal Ribs: 8. The 6th and 7th pair with processes. Sacral Vertebrae: 14. Caudal Vertebrae: 8 or 9. Total: 42 or 43.
3. TUMBLER, DUTCH ROLLER. Cervical Vertebrae: 12. Dorsal Vertebrae: 8. Dorsal Ribs: 7. The 6th and 7th pair without processes. Sacral Vertebrae: 11. Caudal Vertebrae: 7. Total: 38.
4. BUSSORAH CARRIER. Cervical Vertebrae: 12. The twelfth bore a small rib. Dorsal Vertebrae: 8. Dorsal Ribs: 7. The 6th and 7th pair without processes. Sacral Vertebrae: 11. Caudal Vertebrae: 7. Total: 38.
The PELVIS differs very little in any breed. The anterior margin of the ilium, however, is sometimes a little more equally rounded on both sides than in the rock-pigeon. The ischium is also frequently rather more elongated. The obturator-notch is sometimes, as in many Tumblers, less developed than in the rock-pigeon. The ridges on the ilium are very prominent in most Runts.
(FIGURE 28. SCAPULAE, of natural size. A. Rock-pigeon. B. Short-faced Tumbler.)
In the bones of the extremities I could detect no difference, except in their proportional lengths; for instance, the metatarsus in a Pouter was 1.65 inch, and in a Short-faced Tumbler only .95 in length; and this is a greater difference than would naturally follow from their differently-sized bodies; but long legs in the Pouter, and small feet in the Tumbler, are selected points. In some Pouters the SCAPULA is rather straighter, and in some Tumblers it is straighter, with the apex less elongated, than in the rock-pigeon: in figure 28, the scapula of the rock-pigeon (A), and of a short-faced Tumbler (B), are given. The processes at the summit of the CORACOID, which receive the extremities of the furculum, form a more perfect cavity in some Tumblers than in the rock-pigeon: in Pouters these processes are larger and differently shaped, and the exterior angle of the extremity of the coracoid, which is articulated to the sternum, is squarer.
(FIGURE 29. FURCULA, of natural size. A. Short-faced Tumbler. B and C Fantail. D. Pouter.)
The two arms of the FURCULUM in Pouters diverge less, proportionally to their length, than in the rock-pigeon; and the symphysis is more solid and pointed. In Fantails the degree of divergence of the two arms varies in a remarkable manner. In figure 29, B and C represent the furcula of two Fantails; and it will be seen that the divergence in B is rather less even than in the furculum of the short-faced, small-sized Tumbler (A), whereas the divergence in C equals that in a rock-pigeon, or in the Pouter (D), though the latter is a much larger bird. The extremities of the furculum, where articulated to the coracoids, vary considerably in outline.
In the STERNUM the differences in form are slight, except in the size and outline of the perforations, which, both in the larger and lesser sized breeds, are sometimes small. These perforations, also, are sometimes either nearly circular, or elongated as is often the case with Carriers. The posterior perforations occasionally are not complete, being left open posteriorly. The marginal apophyses forming the anterior perforations vary greatly in development. The degree of convexity of the posterior part of the sternum differs much, being sometimes almost perfectly flat.