CAGE-BIRDS. 



removed as laid, the male bird may addle them 

 by partially sitting. When the swan begins to sit 

 on whatever eggs are substituted for those re- 

 moved, her own ones should be replaced, and the 

 others taken away. 



PIGEONS. 



Pigeons are among the most ornamental and 

 useful appendages of a rural dwelling. If per- 

 mitted to fly abroad to seek their food, little 

 expense will be incurred for their keep, while the 

 value of their young will be of some importance 

 to cottagers. The pigeon has a great power oi 

 flight, and will go to a distance of many miles in 

 quest of the means of subsistence ; but wherever 

 it may fly, it never fails to return home. The 

 leading features of the district around its habita- 

 tion appear to be impressed on its memory ; and 

 flying at a great height, and with a wonderful 

 power of vision, it sees the well-remembered land- 

 marks, and directs its path homeward. This 

 habit of seeking for the place at which it was 

 reared, makes it difficult to keep pigeons in any 

 new home ; the best plan of inducing them to settle 

 in a new abode is to clip one wing, which prevents 

 their flying, and keep them in a cot near the 

 ground tifl. they get accustomed to the place. 

 Some persons keep their pigeons in the space 

 between the garret and roof of their dwelling- 

 house, with holes at which they go out and in ; 

 and this arrangement answers very well, for the 

 animal's lodging must be dry and comfortable. A 

 more regular plan is to furnish them with a pro- 

 perly constructed dove-cot, aloof from any build- 

 ing. The cot should consist of a substantial 

 wooden box, with a sloping roof, and divided 

 interiorly by partitions into as many cells as pairs 

 are to be kept, for each pair requires a distinct 

 cell Each compartment should be twelve inches 

 deep from front to back, and sixteen inches broad ; 

 the entrance-hole should not be opposite the centre 

 of the cell, but at one side, so that the pigeons may 

 build their nest a little out of sight In front of 

 each cell there should be a slip of wood, to rest 

 and coo upon ; but as different pairs incessantly 

 quarrel about the right of walking on these slips, 

 and are apt to fight for the possession of cells, it 

 is best to separate the slips with upright partitions ; 

 and it would be an improvement to have two or 

 three small cots instead of one large one. The 

 cot, of whatever size or form, should be elevated 

 on a wall facing the south-east, or otherwise placed 

 at such a height as will be out of the reach of cats 

 and other vermin. The cot should be painted 

 white, as the pigeon is attracted by that colour. 

 Gravel should be strewed on the ground in front 

 of the dove-cot, the birds being fond of picking it ; 

 and a little straw or hay is necessary for the nests. 

 Cleanliness is indispensable to the health of the 

 birds, and a scouring out of the cot should there- 

 fore take place regularly. 



In commencing to keep pigeons, a pair or two 

 should be procured which have not flown, and 

 they should be shut up for a time, and well fed. 

 Their chief food is grain, and the kind which they 

 prefer to all others is dried tares. Small horse- 

 beans are another favourite article of diet, and 

 very nutritious to them. 



The house-dove, or common pigeon, as is well 

 known, begins to breed about the age of nine 

 months, and breeds every month. During breed- 



ing-time, they associate in pairs, and pay court to 

 each other with their bills ; the female lays two 

 eggs, and the young ones that are produced are 

 for the most part a male and female. When the 

 eggs are laid, the female, in the space of fifteen 

 days, not including the three days during which 

 she is employed in laying, continues to hatch, 

 relieved at intervals by the male. Kept with 

 ordinary care, a pair will give to the breeder nine 

 pair or so in a year, and will continue to do this 

 for four years. 



With regard to the best breeds of the common 

 domesticated pigeon, it is difficult to give any 

 useful instructions. They have been cultivated to 

 a great extent, and many distinct varieties have 

 been formed, but the differences rest chiefly in 

 colours, and the special value of each lies in the 

 taste of the fancier. The leading varieties of 

 fancy-pigeons are known by the names of the 

 English Pouter, the Dutch Cropper, the Horse- 

 man, the Unloper, the Dragoon, the Tumbler, the 

 Leghorn and Spanish Runt, the Trumpeter, the 

 Nun, the Fan-tail, the Capuchin, and the Burr. 

 The last has a peculiarly short beak, and is 

 remarkable for a ring of unfeathered flesh which 

 surrounds a small sharp eye. The English pouter, 

 depicted in the frontispiece, possesses the remark- 

 able property of blowing out its breast or crop to 

 such an extent that it rises to a level with its beak, 

 and the bird appears to look over the top of an 

 inflated bladder. The fan-tails are considered 

 great beauties. 



The training of pigeons as letter-carriers forms 

 a lucrative employment in some countries. The 

 instinct which has rendered the carrier-pigeon so 

 serviceable, is the strong desire manifested by all 

 pigeons to return to the place of their ordinary 

 residence ; and man has adopted various pre- 

 cautionary measures in order to make its return 

 on particular occasions more certain. A male 

 and female are usually kept together, and treated 

 well ; and one of these, when taken elsewhere, is 

 supposed to have the greater inducement to come 

 back. It is even considered necessary by some 

 that the bird should have left eggs in the process 

 of incubation, or unfledged young ones, at home, 

 in order to make the return certain ; but probably 

 these are superfluous precautions. When the 

 moment for employing it has arrived, the indi- 

 vidual requiring its services writes a small billet 

 upon thin paper, which is placed lengthwise under 

 the wing, and fastened by a pin to one of the 

 feathers, with some precautions to prevent the pin 

 from pricking, and the paper from filling with air. 

 On being released, the carrier ascends to a great 

 height, takes one or two turns in the air, and then 

 commences its forward career, at the rate of about 

 forty miles an hour. 



CAGE-BIRDS. 



Prominent among the many birds usually 

 domesticated in cages in Britain are canaries, 

 siskins, goldfinches, bullfinches, larks, linnets, 

 thrushes, blackbirds, starlings, and parrots. The 

 only means by which these or any other species of 

 birds can be reared and preserved in a healthy 

 condition, is to accommodate each as far as 

 possible with the food, space for exercise, and 

 other conveniences which the animal would enjoy 

 in a state of nature. The most difficult thing to 



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