On September 1, 1914, Martha, the last known Passenger Pigeon, died in the Cincinnati Zoo ,Her body is still preserved in the archives of Smithsonian Institution
Origin: Germany, in and around Berlin and surroundings in the 19th Century.
Total Impression: Stately and full of temperament, tender and slender with good proportion of all body parts. High standing, almost horizontal carried body with vertical carried neck and horizontal head and beak carriage.
Breed Characteristics:
Head: Extremely narrow, protracted quite long to the front, forming a wedge if looked at from above, without dip or strong pinch in profile the upper headline forms with the beakridge a straight line, which at the back part of the head progresses at a right angle into the neckline. In spite of its length the head is not allowed to appear clumsy and has to be proportional to the fine limbed body.
Eyes: Moderately large with small pupil and completely light, almost white iris, if possible without blood vessels. Cere delicately developed to accommodate the coloring of the plumage. Pale in reds and yellow.
Beak: Straight, long, and thin carried horizontally coming to a point at the end without overlapping the upper beak. Flat lying wattle. Color of beak dark in blue and black, light horn colored in pearly and dun, light wax colored in red and yellow.
Neck: Long, thin, and straight carried perpendicular, deeply grooved.
Chest: Small, not protruding. Paunch underdeveloped and a little drawn.
Back: Flat, only a little sloped, also small in the shoulders.
Wings: Tightly carried on the body, shoulder protruding without being covered by the feathem of the chest. Wings tightly carried on the tail without crossing.
Tail: Tight; carried practically horizontal, extending beyond the wing tips by at least the width of a thumb.
Legs: Long and fine-boned, narrowly placed with long thighs and tightly covered to the toes with thin feathering. Hocks slightly pressed backwards and to the center without touching. Toes well spread.
Plumage: Well developed and tight.
Color Classes: Magpied in: blue, pearl, dun, black, red, and yellow. Out of every color you will get solid colored birds with white wing feathers (flights), with pearl eyes and whites with dark eyes, pale cere and light wax colored beak. Even so, they are intermediate products and are exhibited and judged in their own class.
Color and Markings: The blue color possibly dark-steel-blue not slate or ink colored. The pearl color in lightest tone (zinc colored). The duns soft cream colored, coming close to ivory. The black intense with green luster. Red and yellow saturated. Magpie marked with white heart shaped spot about in the center between chest and throat; or without spot (full colored). The heart is desired small, but every size is permissible if it is closed. The colored shoulder heat evenly formed is not allowed to overlap the wings. The lower part of the back is white. Tail with body color cleaned colored, not reedy or oval ornamented. Pertaining to whites and to solid colored birds with white wing feathers (flights), there are exceptionally strict demands pertaining to the characteristics of the breed. The latter must have seven to nine white flights and show white feathering of the lower legs to the toes.
Head : The skull should be fairly massive and deep in proportion to the size of the bird, and in profile should rise gradually from the base of the wattle, forming a gentle and unbroken curve to the back of the head, thence descending to the neck without angularity or lumpiness; the distance from the center of the eye to the back of the skull being horizontally 7/8 of an inch. The top view should be wedge-shaped and broad, yet proportionate to the substance and length of the beak, well filled behind the wattle, and slightly convex from eye to eye.
Beak : Both mandibles stout, straight, of proportionate width and of equal substance, close-fitting, smooth, terminating as bluntly as possible, set horizontally and measuring from its tip to the center of the eye about 1 5/8 of an inch; thus making the entire length from the tip of the beak to the back of the skull about 2 1/2 inches. The under mandible as free as possible from "jawing", i.e. growth of wattle.
Wattle :"Peg" shaped, i.e. broad, perpendicular and highest at the back, narrowing with equal sides and in young birds, with longitudinal furrows towards the termination of the upper mandible and merging almost imperceptibly therewith. With age, the wattle, while still retaining its peg shape, should develop into a compact formation, wrinkled in general appearance, but fine in texture. It should be fairly large, yet proportionate to the size of the head.
Cere : Small, hard, finely laced, the inner edge circular, the outer nearly so, but with a slightly "pinched" appearance at the back. It should not extend above the top of the skull, nor crowd the wattle. In the Adult, three circles should be clearly distinguishable in the upper part of the cere, and two in the lower.
Eye : Large and Prominent.
Neck : Of medium length and thickness, entirely free from gullet, and widening boldly from head to body.
Breast: Broad and full. Keel straight.
Wings : Powerful, the flights short and broad, resting upon the tail. The shoulders thick, muscular and prominent, but not standing out from the body conspicuously.
Tail : Running in a line with the back, close fitting, carried clear of the ground, somewhat short in proportion to the size of the bird, and extending about 5/8 of an inch beyond the extremity of the flights.
Legs: Short and well set back. The thighs stout and muscular.
Length of Bird :Measuring from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail, about 15 inches when outstretched.
Carriage :Erect and Bold.
General Characteristics :Medium in size, and excessive in no property. Hard and very close feathered. Alert and watchful.
