154 



them, have plenty of gravel, their area kept clean, they will pick themselves, bask in 

 the sun, and thrive prodigiously. 



462. Their food should be the best tares ; if sound beans could be procured small 

 enough I should prefer them. It will be better to let them have both. I do not think 

 tares alone a wholesome diet, being apt to make them scour. 



463. An additional reason for drafting the young ones off, is, the old ones should 

 not continue feeding them till they are on the point of hatching again, which they 

 will do, even though they can feed themselves, which is injurious to the old ones, as 

 they have no time to recruit from their labour, which, in feeding two or three large 

 birds on the floor, as is often the case, is great, and pull the birds down very much, and 

 throws them out of condition, particularly the hens, who are not equal to it ; have 

 frequently seen them iU from so great an exertion : on taking them in hand have 

 found them considerably wasted : by taking off the young birds, have been reinedied in 

 a few days ; the old ones have picked up their flesh as before. For want of an addi- 

 tional room to draft them off, the Fancier must, if his loft is divided, put them on the 

 contrary side, where they wiU be prevented teazing the old ones, and learn to feed well 

 in two or three days. 



OF BAKEEN BIRDS. 



464. It sometimes happens the Fancier has a pair of birds in his loft, which, from 

 age or other defect of nature, will not breed. This is more frequently attributable to 

 the hen, as she is more liable to be weakened from too much breeding and laying too 

 quickly ; perhaps not having had sufficient care taken to sit and feed her off. If she 

 lays regularly, the eggs do not come to perfection ; after the usual time of sitting it is 

 clear it is not her fault, but must be attributed to some defect in the cock. If she 

 does not lay, and only wants to be continually going to nest, it is her fiault. The best 

 way is to give her a pair of eggs, let her sit on them, provide her a young one to feed 

 off when her time for sitting is out, and repeat this when she wishes to go to nest 

 again for a few times ; if the hen is curable without flying her, this vsdll make her lay 

 again. If she is valuable, the Fancier should send her to some friend in the country 

 who keeps Pigeons, match her to one of the common birds, and let her fly ; if she is 

 not past breeding, it will bring her round. When the Fancier has a hen of this de- 

 scription, the cock is not too good to lose the use of in this way, he may make them 

 very useful as feeders, by sitting them at almost any time he wishes, which office, by a 

 little management, they will very readily perform, and when their time of sitting is ex- 

 pu-ed, wiU be ready to take a pair of good young ones from some other pair that are be- 

 ginning to desert them. Should he not like to keep a pair of this description, he must 

 discard the faulty bird ; before he does this, he should examine to see if it has any 

 vermin, as they are sometimes the cause of barrenness. 



OF WASHING. 



465. The Fancier should take notice, nothing contributes more to cleanliness than 

 frequent washings, in which the birds delight amazingly, plunging into the water 

 with great eagerness. This must not be done in a slovenly way ; if it is, they vrill not 

 be benefitted. The pan should be put into the area ; the birds made to wash there, 

 that the waste water may run away ; not suffered to wash in the loft — make a wet 

 place that wiU not be dry in three or four days, by which they will draggle their flights 

 and make themselves more dirty instead of cleaner. The water shoiild not be given 

 more than twice a week, or three times at most ; if they have it too frequently 

 they will not use it. Another inconvenience, some would be washing one day, some 

 another, the area would never be dry. Nothing soils their plumage so much as con- 

 stant wet, particularly their flights and tails. I think the cistern water for this 

 purpose is best, because it is softer, and more likely to assist in removing the filth 

 from their plumage than pump water. 



OF FLYING THE BIRDS. 



466. Some Fanciers prefer flying their birds ; to this I cannot assent either in town 

 or country, more particularly in town, as they are extremely weak and timid ; the 



