IMPORTANT FACTS TO KNOW 9 



canker without being detected, unless a careful inspec- 

 tion of the mouth and throat is made. A purchaser, 

 unused to pigeons, may easily get lousy birds. They 

 are dangerous and better be knifed rather than attempt 

 to keep them, unless the vermin are destroyed at once. 

 When these pests have once secured a foothold, they 

 increase so rapidly they will kill both squabs and 

 parent birds in short order if neglected. 



Beware of birds from unscrupulous .dealers. — 

 Birds ,bought from unreliable dealers are often un- 

 profitable. This is because some dealers buy many 

 birds from various sources, and know nothing specific 

 about them. Our correspondence during the last 

 three years warrants us in stating that there has been 

 a probable loss of more than $10,000 to people who 

 have bought pigeons. These correspondents have 

 nearly always made the same complaint. They 

 bought birds because they were told they were mated ; 

 but after keeping them, in some instances a full year, 

 they have found not more than 25 per cent were 

 mated, in some cases, less than 10 per cent. Some of 

 these dealers have agents in various parts of the 

 country hunting for birds. One of these agents as- 

 sured us that in one year he shipped 2,000 pairs of 

 birds, at 75 cents a pair, to a certain firm. He did not 

 raise the birds himself but bought them in a local 

 market. 



All breeding birds should be banded. — Birds 

 should be banded before being placed in the breeding 

 pen. The purpose of this banding is to enable the 

 owner to keep accurate records. Frequently a bird 

 dies. The record is consulted, and the unmated bird 



