268 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



reared in winter, the profits may be as great as when the actual 

 results are much better, because in winter the prices are much 

 higher than at the seasons when squabs are most easily produced. 

 Fanciers do not usually allow their pigeons to breed during the 

 coldest winter months, but take the eggs from the nests or keep 

 the sexes separate until spring approaches. The object of the 

 fancier is to produce specimens having the finest possible devel- 

 opment of form and color. He cannot do this successfully under 

 conditions that cause heavy losses. The birds may grow under 

 such conditions but will not have the superior quality that he 

 desires, and so he finds it more profitable to concentrate all his 

 attention upon the birds that he can produce when the weather 

 is most favorable. 



