"Pigeon Information" Ancient Chinese Breed of Iron Bull "Little Green Cat"

　Old breed iron bull

　　Iron bull, one of the ancient flying pigeon breeds in China, also known as the little green cat, ornamental pigeon. The title of iron bull originates from the Beijing area, and pigeon fanciers in Jiangsu, Anhui and other places call it little green cat, green cat, the reason why it is called small green cat, is because the iron bull pigeon is as agile as a cat, nocturnal like a cat, fast and flexible like a cat and got its name. Anhui players use a "cat" character, and Beijing players use a "thief" character to portray the breed characteristics of the iron bull pigeon (little green cat) into three points. And what really makes the Iron Bull Pigeon widely known to the world is the scholar Wang Shixiang, who is known as the first player in Beijing. Flexible and alert, excellent memory, strong recognition, untamed, athletic and good flying, stable genetics and the legendary night flying ability make the iron bull pigeon popular with "players"...

　Heritage

　　According to historical records, since the transmission of the flying pigeon of Zhang Jiuling in the Tang Dynasty more than 1,100 years ago (702 AD), most of the flying pigeon breeds in ancient China that were once famous and passed down from thousands of miles have long disappeared into the dust of history, but some of them have been fortunately preserved to this day. The Iron Bull Pigeon (Little Blue Cat) is one of them.

　　More than three hundred years ago, Li Zhensheng, a poet during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, recorded in the "Hundred Drama Branches" that "the golden bell listens to the clear sky, and the spring warms the family to release iron cattle"... This is a literary work depicting the life scenes of guotai and min'an and people living and working in peace and contentment during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and also shows that in the Qing Dynasty, the iron bull was once a very popular pigeon breed in the folk breed.

　　The "Bird Pigeon Genealogy" collected by the Palace Museum includes a painting of a grape-eyed iron bull painted by Jiang Tingxi during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty (1654-1722).

　　In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), a Nobleman of the Qing Dynasty, Fu cha Dun Chong (1855-1922, Zi Lichen, Iron Lion Daoist) recorded in his work describing Beijing's folk culture, "Yanjing Shi Ji Hua'er City": "How good the Beijing master is, how many pigeons are stored, and the types are extremely diverse... Among its precious ones is the Iron Bull. ”

　　The origin of the name

　　Iron bull, one of the ancient flying pigeon breeds in China, also known as the little green cat, ornamental pigeon. The title of iron bull originates from the Beijing area, while fanciers in Jiangsu, Anhui and other places call it little green cat and green cat. Its source is rumored to be the Jianghuai area, is now mainly common in Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and other parts of the region, according to the Anhui region of the family introduction, the reason why it is called a small green cat, is because the iron cow pigeon like a cat as agile, like a cat nocturnal, as fast and flexible as a cat and thus named. Anhui players use a "cat" character, and Beijing players use a "thief" character to portray the breed characteristics of the iron bull pigeon (little green cat) into three points. The small characters of the little green cat are not only a description of the shape of the iron cow, but also a summary of the breeding standards of this breed. There is an old family in Anhui who said that he once saw the smallest green cat, and with a medium-sized small porcelain bowl, he could cover a pair of small green cats. It can be seen that the historical family has pursued this variety of small and good flying.

　　In modern times, what makes the Iron Bull Pigeon widely known to the world is the scholar Master Wang Shixiang, who is known as the first player in Beijing, who discussed in the article "Iron Bull":

　　When I was a teenager, an elderly adopter in his seventies asked me, "Have you ever seen an iron bull?" I said, "No." He said, "Don't say it's you, I couldn't see you more than twenty years ago, absolutely!" I asked the Iron Bull what he looked like again, and he said, "Little boy, big eyes, like black soap and not really black, Thief, maybe flying!" "Since then, I think that the iron bull has become extinct, so when I wrote the "Qing Palace Pigeon Profile", there were two iron cows, both of which were included in the "unseen" category by me.

　　The physical characteristics of the iron bull pigeon

　　1. Body type: The figure of the standard iron bull pigeon needs to be short, small, thick, developed chest muscles, short wings and short tail, shape like a cannonball, the length of the body is only a single palm open before and after a stab, from the shoulder to the tail the length should not exceed twenty centimeters, the pursuit of shorter the smaller the better! The width is a full grip. The adult male iron bulls of the Jiangsu Huaiyang generation generally weigh about 200 grams to 300 grams (four two to six pairs) and the hens weigh about 150 grams to 250 grams (three two to half a catty). When the iron bull pigeon stands, it needs to stand with its head held high and a "shameful and high-spirited" look. The legs and claws are ruddy, and the neck is short and thick, and the body is straight, which looks petite and cute. The neck is shiny, and although the iron bull is small, it needs to be compact, dexterous and capable, and agile.

　　2. Head type: large and full head, wide forehead, two long mouths, thick and short neck, flashing, flat head and crest, adult iron bull about three years old, fine need to have a slightly wider nose, wide eyelids, outer circle and inner square, like ancient copper coins, eyelid color needs to be cream yellow.

　　3. Feathers: The overall plumage of the iron bull pigeon is a bluish-black, or bluish-gray, and at the wing shoulder area, with a very light bit of rust red, the plumage varies slightly from place to place. Folk generally tend to prefer colors in green gray and iron cyan with darker feathers.

　　4. Eye sand: The eyes are divided into two types: one is "full of stars" and the other is "grape eyes". The eyes of the starry sky are sandy white at the bottom and the face is sandy brown, which is called the "full star" eye, which has the feeling of snake skin. The other is called black grape eye iron cow, far away from the black as beans, the only difference between it and the starry iron cow is that the sand on the face of the eyes is black brown, at a glance, the eyes are like a black grape, so people call it black grape eye iron bull.

　　Character traits of the Iron Bull Pigeon

　　1. Flexible and alert: The most remarkable personality characteristics of the iron bull pigeon is that it has an extraordinary vigilance against the surrounding environment, paying attention to the surrounding wind and grass anytime and anywhere, once there is a suspicious object in a safe distance, the iron bull pigeon will immediately increase its vigilance, stand still, bury its head, like a mousecat, the body is semi-squat, ready to soar; the old players in Beijing like to say that the iron bull "thief", a "thief" word, the character characteristics of the iron bull are portrayed into three points.

　　2. Excellent memory, strong recognition of shed: The iron bull pigeon has a super memory of the new shed and the new nest. The author has found that the iron bull pigeon is very easy to open a home, most of the adult iron bull pigeons, after arriving at the new pigeon loft, after a short period of time (a day or two) can open the home to fly, many iron bull pigeons will not be in a hurry to start flying, will first carefully observe the surrounding terrain, familiar with the surrounding geographical environment, and then they can accurately return home after flying in the high air, and rarely lose. The young birds of the Iron Bull never roam the shed.

　　3. Untamed, not easy to catch, extremely difficult to grasp: the iron bull is sensitive in nature, extremely vigilant to the outside world, it is very difficult to catch in the shed, even after being caught in the hand, it will wait for the opportunity to escape at any time, and if you are not careful, you will break free from your hand and leave a place of pigeon feathers.

　　4. Healthy and good at flying, flapping its wings silently: The iron bull pigeon is different in the frisbee, the market is very large, back and forth, and the ornamental flying pigeon breed can not leave the hall Xuan is very different. The iron bull pigeon is also very recognizable in the air, its wings flutter frequently in the air, rarely gliding, but quiet and silent, always like a series of black lightning, swept by, unless the field of vision is wide, it is difficult to capture its healthy figure!

　　5. Legendary night flying ability: The older generation of families have said that the iron bull pigeon can fly at night, the author has not yet confirmed the night flight of the iron bull pigeon, but it has been observed more than once that when entering the pigeon loft in the dark, there are a considerable number of individual iron bull pigeons that can avoid the master's capture in the dark and dull pigeon loft. Hopefully, one day the night-flying characteristics of the Iron Bull Pigeon will be proven.

　　6. Stable heredity: The heredity of the iron bull pigeon is very stable, its appearance characteristics, personality characteristics, can be very stable inheritance to offspring, near blood reproduction, almost no mutation.