230 



FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



PlQEO^I DePV^I^T. 



SILVER DRAGOONS' BARS. 



As I have frequently the honor of acting as judge at Pigeon 

 shows, I have been requested by several fanciers to state my 

 views on this subject. Mr. J. Percival, an old fancier, and 

 likewise judge, having already done so, I shall enter into no 

 argument with any one, for more than enough has been writ- 

 ten and said on the subject. What I wish to put forth is, thai 

 it is by no means a new idea that Silver Dragoons should 

 have black bars, for nearly forty years ago I had some, and 

 they were then thought to be correct by a next-door neigh- 

 bor, a Dragoon fancier then of more than thirty years' stand- 

 ing. I hope other gentlemen acting as judges will give their 

 opinion, without any further discussion, as to which way they 

 would award the prizes, both varieties being present — viz., 

 Silver Dragoons with brown bars and Silver Dragoons with 

 black. Without any hesitation I say I should give the prize 

 to those with the black bars, all other points being equal. — 

 Hakkison Weir, in Journal of Horticulture. 



POLYGAMY IN PIGEONS. 



As bearing on the subject named by " Onus Probandi" in 

 the Journal of February 12th, I send you an account of the 

 following facts. A common Ash cock of mine was mated 

 with a common Blue Chequer hen, and they had a young 

 one in the nest which died at about a fortnight old. I had, 

 among others, an unmated Blue Chequer hen, which if pos- 

 sessed among two or three dozen more of the same kind by 

 a Lancashire dealer would be called "A Kock fra Linca- 

 shire (Lincolnshire) fur shootin'," but which, I suppose, is 

 a Chequered Dovecote Pigeon. I had it from a farm in 

 Herefordshire. The Ash cock is a very merry bird, and 

 upon the death of his young one he was soon ready to go to 

 nest again ; and finding his own hen (which we will call the 

 Blue Chequer) was not of the same mind, he turned his at- 

 tentions to what we will call the "Kock." This seemed to 

 rouse the jealousy of the Blue Chequer, and in a short time 

 she laid him two eggs, which he helped to sit regularly, but 

 when he was not sitting he employed his time jn nesting or 

 flying with the Rock. In due time the eggs laid by the Blue 

 Chequer were hatched, and the young ones reared, the Ash 

 helping to feed them. Both were Blue Chequers, but with 

 a decided likeness in the head, beak, and general shape to 

 the Ash cock. Before these young ones were able to fly 

 about the Kock laid two eggs in another nest, built for her 

 by the Ash cock, and he helped her regularly to sit, but 

 when he was not sitting he employed his time in nesting and 

 flying with the Blue Chequer (whose young ones could now 

 feed themselves), and as a result she laid him two eggs about 

 six days after the Kock. 



And now his work began ; he helped both hens to sit, and 

 I seldom saw him fly about outside. Yesterday, March 8th, 



both of the Rock's eggs hatched ; but until the young ones 

 grow larger I shall not be able to prove that the Ash helps 

 to feed them, though I have seen him sit over them. 



I have examined the eggs of the Blue Chequer, and found 

 one "addled" — no formation whatever having taken place, 

 and I am now waiting for the other egg to hatch, when it 

 will be interesting to observe whether the Ash cock helps to 

 feed both nests, and also what likeness the progeny bear to 

 him when full-grown. I say it will be interesting to observe 

 what likeness both lots of young ones bear to him when full- 

 grown, as I lately had a case in which a hen, that had been 

 a long time unmated, laid two eggs (while yet unmated), 

 one on the floor, the other on the shelf. I put them under 

 a pair I had sitting, and two young ones were hatched and 

 reared, which when full-grown bore an unmistakable like- 

 ness to a certain cock I had, which had a mate and young 

 ones of his own at the time. I only regret that it has not 

 occurred among fancy breeds where parentage could have been 

 traced without any doubt, inasmuch as the characteristics of 

 distinct fancy breeds are so much more marked than those of 

 the Homing Antwerp type, which is the sort I keep. 



CLUB ROW, THE FANCY AND ITS VOTARIES. 



[Many of our readers must be unaware that " Club Kow " 

 is in Church Street, Bethnal Green, London, and a newspaper 

 correspondent, speaking of its vicinity, says : " Among its 

 inhabitants are street venders of every kind of produce, 

 travellers to fairs, tramps, dog fanciers, dog stealers, sharp- 

 ers, shop lifters, and pickpockets. It abounds with the 

 young Arabs of the streets. Sunday is a day much devoted 

 to pet pigeons and singing-bird clubs, prizes being given, 

 and a ready sale following each award." — Eds.] 



To those who spend the greater portion of their lives far 

 from the din of the city, and whose homes, it may be, are 

 nearer to the cover of the fox than to the busy mart and 

 crowded streets, any one of the many specialties which Lon- 

 don possesses is heard of with interest. Nor is it to such 

 alone. London being the head and heart of our empire, and 

 pr*e-eminently great in all its characteristics, all Englishmen 

 take pride in its greatness, and never weary reading of its 

 wonders, and I have therefore ventured to send you these 

 few jottings. 



" Club Row on a Sunday morning" had been described 

 to me in such terms that determined me at the first favora- 

 ble opportunity to pay it a visit. Previous information 

 somewhat prepared me, but the scene itself surpassed all I 

 had imagined. To begin with : In Club Row and adjacent 

 streets there are about eighty " fanciers' " shops, possibly 

 more than that number; and as a means of comj^arison, 

 when we consider that Manchester and Salford combined 

 can only muster about half a dozen all told, this in itself 

 excited no little surprise. All the shops, or with scarcely 

 an exception, in the locality named, seemed devoted to 

 the same line of business. In some the atmosphere was 

 simply unbearable, the proprietors evidently not believing 

 "cleanliness is next to godliness." Happily there were ex- 

 ceptions. As regards the birds, it would have been possible 

 to have obtained anything from a Tomtit to a Brahma cock, 

 though I cannot say much in praise of the quality. The 

 thoroughfares were thronged to a degree that made it diffi- 

 cult to thread one's way through the mass of venders and 

 purchasers, for the trade was not restricted to the shops. 



