292 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



compared and their qualities discussed by the company, and that 

 at the close each participant carried his exhibit home. 



As the interest in breeding for fancy points extended, such 

 gatherings became larger and assumed a more formal character, 

 and rules were adopted for comparing, or judging, the birds ; 

 but it was not until about the middle of the nineteenth century 



FIG. 233. View of a section of a large poultry show in Mechanics Building, 

 Boston, Massachusetts 



that the modern system of public exhibitions of poultry, pigeons, 

 cage birds, and pet stock was inaugurated. The first exhibitions 

 of this kind were held at the agricultural fairs. Very soon after 

 these began to attract attention, special exhibitions, limited to 

 this class of stock and held in suitable buildings in the winter, 

 became frequent. Now large shows are held annually in nearly 

 every large city and in hundreds of smaller cities, and every 

 agricultural fair has its poultry department. For the sake of 



