to 1'HiKoN.s AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



DANGER IN IMPORTING. 



OFTKN" an ambitious fancier takes it for granted that 

 t In- birds of this country are not good enough for him 

 and he must therefore import. He thinks he must go 

 to the fountain head, i.e. to England or Scotland. Often he is 

 ltd to do this by the fictitious idea that all imported birds are 



-o.id OIK'S. 



There never was a greater mistake. Things are better now, 

 but I can remember when America (or " the States" as the 

 Knulish and Scotch called our country) was considered a 

 dumping place for "rubbish." Not only do I know this by 

 actual experience, but I have read articles in the leading 

 pigeon papers of the other side, in which the editors called on 

 the fanciers to give their American patrons the worth of their 

 money and stop unloading on them birds that were only " fit 

 for the pot." It is only a few years since importing began. 

 1 can remember when the English band was such ararity here 

 that a bird wearing one was looked on with awe and supposed 

 to be something far above the ordinary. If a judge heard 

 that so and so had imported a pair of birds, or if, in his 

 judging, he ran across a bird with an English band, he was 

 disposed to give it the full benefit of every doubt for fear that 

 placing it down where it justly belonged, would reflect on his 

 ability as a judge. 



The English and Scotch knew just as little about us as we 

 did about them. I ordered four pairs of Fans from Scotland 

 -.oinc years ago and the sender shipped them in a box that 

 would do to hold a raying tiger. It was of heavy oak and 

 naiU-d and bolted all over. I could ship two hundred birds to 

 any part of this country for what it cost me to get that box 

 <-.\ preyed from New York alone. 



Thm I had to pay for watching, or tending, or something, 

 e they cairn- over, and it cost me a nice s-um to get them 



