39 MANAGEMENT. 



been sat on closely, if fertile ; but, in such a case, another 

 day or two should determine whether it be good or bad. In 

 a week a good egg is quite opaque when held against the 

 light, and becomes of a blue colour. 



Should a newly laid egg get chipped by the claw of the old 

 bird, or by other accident, so long as the skin below the shell 

 be not broken there is hope for it. A good thing to mend 

 such a flaw is the marginal gummed paper round sheets of 

 postage stamps, a piece of which the fancier should always 

 keep in his pocket. Early in the season, thin-shelled eggs are 

 often laid, and such generally get broken before being sat on 

 many days. Should the fancier find his hen pigeons laying 

 many eggs without shells, or with thin shells, it is time for 

 him to attend to their supply of old lime and gravel. Some- 

 times a good egg will get very much indented a few days 

 before it is due to hatch. So long as the skin below the shell 

 be not broken, the indented shell may be carefully patched up 

 with gummed paper, and the young one will often be success- 

 fully hatched. 



Young Pigeons. 



As a rule, young pigeons that require assistance from the 

 egg are not worth the trouble in connection with them. 

 Short-faced tumblers are an exception; but all other breeds, 

 if possessed of the necessary strength to develop into healthy 

 birds, should be allowed to hatch without any interference 

 whatever. 



Young pigeons when hatched are very helpless objects, 

 but grow so fast when all goes well that a great increase in 

 their size may be observed day by day. They are born blind, 

 and covered with a yellow down, which, however, varies much, 

 according to the colour they are to be. Silvers and yellows 

 are hatched with scarcely any down on them, and this is a 

 good indication of these colours. Yellows of the deepest 

 and richest tint are, however, not hatched so thinly covered 



