The Zoologist — October, 1867. 941 



of wine and a biscuit served to beguile the time until ' William ' 

 announced the fact that the birds were ready for inspection : on 

 stepping out on to the lawn, at the back of the house, the visitor saw a 

 walled garden of moderate size ; at the opposite sides of the lawn were 

 two summer-houses, which were devoted to the pouters. In the centre 

 of the lawn was the stump of a low tree, the branches of which had 

 been sawn off, leaving the truncated ends, each of which supported a 

 small platform on which the birds could fly. On the lawn itself 

 were the large shallow vessels in which they bathe. The houses con- 

 tained the pens, each one of which was about three feet long by 

 eighteen inches in height. The fronts of the pens were made of per- 

 pendicular wires. The door formed the middle third, the wires at the 

 two ends being fixtures. At the two extremities of the pens were 

 placed large flat flower-pot saucers, serving as nest pans, and often a 

 pair of young birds were to be seen at one end, whilst one of the 

 young birds was sitting on a pair of eggs at the other. Each pen was 

 furnished with two small pans, one for food, the other for water : these 

 were never empty." — p. 66. 



" Those who like ourselves have had the pleasure of witnessing the 

 scene from Mr. Bult's house, will acknowledge that his arrangements 

 were the very perfection of pigeon-keeping. The extreme cleanliness 

 of the houses and pens, the beauty of the birds, now prancing proudly 

 on the lawn, and then, as it were in the very exuberance of their 

 animal spirits, starting off on a short flight, with loud-flapping wings 

 and inflated crops, and the pleasing variety occasioned by the different 

 colours of the birds, combined to render the picture most attractive." 

 —p. 67. 



I conclude my quotations with a few instructions on the method of 

 feeding young pigeons by hand, the minuteness of which will convince 

 every one of the attention which Mr. Tegelmeier has paid to every 

 branch of the subject. 



" The method of feeding by hand usually adopted is to cram the 

 bird with soaked beans or peas. We prefer the former, as being 

 larger and not requiring so many to fill the crop. The bird to be fed 

 should be lifted from the nest, or the nest-pan may be taken on the 

 knees as the feeder sits on a low chair ; when placing the left hand 

 over the bird, he holds the head between the finger and thumb, and 

 taking up the beans (which should be conveniently placed) with the 

 right hand, he opens the beak and slips them rapidly, one after another, 



