218 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



are secured by straps. The ends of these straps are usually 

 secured by strings, the knot of which is embraced in a hole 

 made in a disc of lead, which is then stamped or sealed on both 

 sides by a pair of pincer-dies, in order to show that the basket 

 and its contents have not been tampered with. 



It does not, for obvious reasons, answer to fly hens during 

 the breeding season, except at about eight or nine days after 

 hatching ; and cocks should not be flown for four or five days 

 after hatching, as the soft meat would prevent their winning. 

 The plumage should also be in good order; and as moulting time 

 approaches this should be carefully looked to before a race, for 

 a bird minu part of its flight-feathers would be at a very 

 great disadvantage. It is well also to examine the feet, and 

 see if any dirt or excrement adheres ; if so, it should be 

 removed, as even a few grains is so much dead weight to carry. 



Birds in training are stamped before each stage and when 

 entering ; they also often have the owner's name and address. 

 Ordinary type of a heavy kind, set up in a small holder made 

 for the purpose, answers well for this, and india-rubber stamps 

 are also used. The marks are stamped on the broadest flights or 

 tail-feathers, the feather being spread out on a few sheets of 

 blotting-paper laid on the table or a piece of wood, and the 

 stamp, covered with printer's ink evenly distributed on an 

 inking-pad, firmly impressed. All these details are fixed and 

 carried out by various Societies, through whom most of the 

 pigeon-racing is carried on, the members' subscriptions helping 

 to defray the expenses of training. "Wherever possible, it is 

 best to send an attendant, which can be done when there are 

 many to divide the expenses, who can feed and water the birds 

 properly. "When this is impossible, it is usual to send to the 

 station-masters at the training-stations where the birds are to 

 be tossed, and who on most lines are very obliging in this way. 



Pigeon-racing can never become so general, or such long 

 distances become customary, in England as in Belgium or in 



