OEIENTAL FRILL PIGEONS. 



poetical idea, I agree, and so far as fanciers 

 themselves are concerned, and if the mate is a 

 suitable one, I should say — Why waste time? 

 Get on with the business ! But so far as Pigeons 

 are concerned, I should say wait a few weeks 

 longer, especially in a variety like Oriental Frills. 

 We often get some very treacherous weather 

 in February, so I should advise mating up about 

 the second week in March. 



Now I will suppose a fancier intends mating 

 up, say, three pairs. Well, " take time by the 

 fet-locks," as the old man said, and provide, 

 fully two months prior to mating, three pairs of 

 feeders. Long-faced Tumblers (Baldheads for 

 preference), small sized Flying Homers, Modern 

 Magpies, and Tipplers are all good feeders. 

 Do not select young birds for this purpose . Three 

 or four year old birds are preferable, being 

 steadier, more used to their duties, and con- 

 sequently more reliable. Mate the Orientals 

 up six days before mating your feeders. The 

 reason for this is that the feeders go to nest 

 sooner than the Frills, and it is an advantage 

 if the Frills lay two or three days before the 

 feeders, and by transferring the young from Frills 

 to feeders they get the advantage of the extra soft 

 food . Of course , when both lay on the same date 

 you can transfer the eggs, if you wish. 



On this question of using feeders for Oriental 

 Frills I may mention that up to fifteen years ago I 

 never used any, for the reason that I had no 



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