28 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



assistance from any female, an excellent provider of pie materials, 

 till he succeeded in educating a hen Barb to be a steady wife 

 and mother." 



The fancier cannot, however, afford to let matters settle 

 themselves in this way. He insists on controlling his " matches " 

 with as much stolid determination as a French papa and mamma 

 devote to the " arranging " of a marriageable daughter, and he 

 fortunately finds his materials about as tractable. If matters 

 are to go thus easily, however, the sexes must, as a rule, be 

 separated during the winter; for birds left together for long 

 may acquire an attachment it is exceedingly hard to break up. 

 Here, then, is found the advantage of having the loft in at least 

 two divisions. As the pairing season approaches it will be 

 sufficient in nearly all cases to put the two birds it is desired 

 to pair into a matching cage for a few days. A regular 

 " matching pen," as it is called, is a large cage which has a wire 

 partition that can be slid in so as to divide it into two parts, 

 the hen being placed in one, and the cock in the other. When 

 they have had a couple of days to get used to each other the 

 partition is withdrawn ; they usually settle down at once, and 

 may be turned into the loft a couple of days later with safety. 

 The partition is often not necessary, especially if the birds have 

 been long unmated. If, on the other hand, they have been 

 previously mated in a union it is necessary to dissolve, it is 

 generally necessary to keep each bird by itself for several days, 

 and always needful to keep them from the sight of the former 

 mate ; otherwise it will be difficult, if not impossible, to form a 

 fresh union. For the same reason, when any bird's mate has 

 died, it should be kept for a few days alone before being intro- 

 duced to a fresh one. 



It is sometimes needful to dismatch birds already breeding. 

 The owner may have procured a better match, or found from 

 the early young ones that the match is a failure, <fec. In that 

 case, again, the birds should be kept alone for a week at the 



