12 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



as shown at d in Fig. 1. A very usual form for these is that 

 in Fig 6, where the top or perch itself is a slip of wood, about 

 an inch and three-quarters wide and six inches long, nailed over 

 the top edges of two pieces of board the same length and about 

 six inches wide, arranged in the form t of a triangle. These 

 perches are fixed about twelve inches apart, projecting end out 



from the side of the loft, 

 which is easily managed 

 by nailing a strip of board 

 to their ends, and fixing 

 that to the wall. The 

 use of the triangle is to 

 catch the droppings of the 

 birds, and throw them off 

 Fig. 6. TRIANGLE PERCH. from any bird that may 



be on a perch exactly 



underneath^ on to the floor. As pigeons have scarcely any oil 

 in their plumage, such a precaution is very necessary to save 

 serious damage to it ; but this form of perch is most objection- 

 able, the birds being very apt to knock themselves in flying 

 against so many sharp angles, giving rise to many cases of 

 wing disease. We mention the plan only because it is so fre- 

 quently employed, as one to be carefully avoided ; an infinitely 

 better one having been devised some years since by Mr. 

 Caridia, of . Birmingham, a fancier to whom we have been 

 indebted for many a practical hint respecting the management 

 of our pigeons. These admirable perches are shown in Fig. 7, 

 representing two rows, one over the other. Here a a are strips 

 of board the length available for a row of perches, and b b are 

 short lengths of broom-stick or other round poles, either screwed 

 or glued into holes made at the proper intervals, so as to pro- 

 ject about five inches. The right distance is about sixteen 

 inches for long-reaching birds like Carriers, down to twelve 

 inches for smaller breeds. Underneath these are nailed to the 



