Angnet 10, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOETICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



115 



feathers on the throat immediately under the lower mandible, 

 as will also be seen in the admirable sketch, which we think 

 fanciers generally will agree with ns equals, if not excels, any 

 former production from the pencil of our able and esteemed 

 Secretary, Mr. J. W, Ludlow. 



We have now, we think, said all that is necessary to lead to 

 a right judgment in reference to the varieties before ns, but by 

 way of conclusion we think a few remarks in reference to Short- 

 faced breeding will neither be unacceptable nor out of place. 

 As far as regards the Bald and Beard in particular, there is no 

 doubt but they are much better nurses than the Almond and 

 Other Short-faces, as in many instances we have known them 

 rear their own progeny strong and well. They are not, how- 

 ever, to be depended npon even in the most favourable weather 

 —it is, in fact, the exception and not the rule ; so that if any- 

 thing like success is to be achieved a staff of nurses is an 



essential requirement, as, in fact, it is to every breeder of high- 

 class birds. 



For this purpose none are better than the flying or common 

 Bttldheads. We do not allude to the excessively long-faced birds, 

 but to a medium between them and the Short-faces, known as 

 " pleasant-faced " birds. 



All that is necessary in reference to nests, hatching, shifting, 

 &a., was fully explained in our article upon the Almond ; it is, 

 therefore, unnecessary to repeat it here. What we more par- 

 ticularly wish to say at present is upon a most important and 

 neglected feature in connection with Pigeon-breeding, the pro- 

 viding of proper accommodation for the nurses or feeders. The 

 common notion is that any out-of-the-way hole or corner is 

 quite good enough for them. Their requirements are generally 

 the last to be attended to either as regards cleanliness or food, 

 whereas common sense ought to make it apparent that the 



very opposite treatment should be their lot. The warmest, 

 driest, and most comfortable portion of the loft should be set 

 apart for them ; and if convenient they should be allowed full 

 liberty in the open air, the benefit of which will soon be percep- 

 tible in the manner in which the important functions allotted 

 to them are discharged. A hopper of vetches and a constant 

 supply of pure fresh water should always be at their command. 

 Our experience is, that by keeping them to one kind of grain 

 they feed better and keep their young better supplied than by 

 feeding in any other way, and no food is more wholesome or more 

 suitable for Short-faces than tares. In our own lofts on this 

 principle the death of a young one ia a rare occurrence, and 

 then it is from no neglect of the nurses ; on the contrary, many 

 of them are constantly rearing three and even four young ones, 

 and always in the kindest possible manner. But for the pens 

 such a loft should be provided with. They should be 2 feet in 

 height and length, 18 inches deep. Half the front, as shown 

 in the diagram, ia closed with a board or blind, and the other 

 half with a wicket or wire gate. Inside from the blind to the 

 back Is fixed a shelf 1 foot from the floor and the same width, 

 on to which opens through the blind a small door for the egress 

 and ingress of the birds, with a ledge for them to alight upon. 

 On the shelf is placed the nest-pan, and as soon as the old birds 



are ready to lay again, it should be shifted with the young to 

 the floor beneath, and a clean one 

 substituted. 



The advantage of the above plan 

 must be apparent at a glance. The 

 young birds cannot disturb the old 

 birds while sitting, it puts them 

 entirely out of danger when they 

 begin to leave the nest, causes them 

 to learn to feed themselves early, so 

 that when they are able to ascend to 

 the shelf they are ready for removal 

 to the general loft. These pens have, 

 amongst many other advantages, 

 those of being readily and tho- 

 roughly cleaned, they give the loft a 

 neat and uniform appearance, and 

 in every way add to the pleasure of 

 the fancier in ways unnecessary to 

 detail. Notwithstanding that we 

 have never seen these pens in nse 

 in any other loft, we wish to claim 



nothing original or novel in their piodnctiou. It is possible 



