The Feather's Practical Pigeon Book 



be likely to throw Chequered or clouded Blues, or they 

 might even produce one, if not two, Blacks in each nest. 

 It is not uncommon for two Black Fans, when mated 

 together, to produce one and even two Blues, and the 

 natural supposition in such a case would be that both 

 birds had a preponderance of Blue blood in their veins, 

 and that the union developed that color to the exclusion 

 of Black. 



But these are chances that we want in mating to 

 avoid, where possible, so that we may know in mating 

 certain colors together we may be certain of reproduc- 

 ing them in the young. Where pairs are thoroughly 

 understood it is generally known beforehand about what 

 colors they will produce, but how to mate their progeny 

 with others of same stock is where reflection is neces- 

 sary; to so mate two Red birds together as to get a 

 preponderance of Red blood, or to so mate a Yellow 

 and a Red as to get same results. On the other hand 

 a Red bred from a Black sire or mother, if mated with a 

 Black, would be likely to give a good, glossy Black. So 

 a Blue crossed with a Silver with Blue blood in its sys- 

 tem would be likely to give a clear Blue with black bars ; 

 or a light Blue bred from Silver, and again crossed with 

 Silver, wo.uld be likely to give a good bright Silver. 



As the painter prepares his dififerent shades of color 

 by mixing certain proportions of the primary colors to- 

 gether, so the fancier, by a proper knowledge of the par- 

 entage of his birds, learns to mate them for required 

 results. 



While I have so far spoken mainly of color, the other 

 points, such as bills, eyes, frills, flights, booting, peaks, 

 and caps, all need to be studied and calculated for in the 

 same manner as color. The Turbit and Owl with small 

 frills should be mated to a bird with a greater develop- 



85 



