13 



did condition, I flew them entirely 

 away ; this was awfully unlucky for 

 me, not only losing the birds, but 

 the stakes also. So you see, pigeon- 

 flying takes a large amount of trouble, 

 expense, and anxiety. 



It is usual for a professional 

 pigeon-flyer to keep three or four 

 pairs of old birds to breed from ; 

 birds that are too old to fly the 

 length of time which young ones 

 will. These are very useful in case 

 of bad weather, when it is important 

 to drop them, or they will be lost. 

 Should a hail or snow storm come 

 on suddenly, you stand a very poor 

 chance of dropping them, unless you 

 have a few of these very useful birds 

 for the occasion. 



PAIRING FOR HIGH AND 

 LONG FLYING. 



Great care should be taken not to 

 pair birds of a kin together, if you 



