The Feather's Practical Pigeon Book 



ment of this feature. The Swallow, with a narrow cap 

 or light booting, needs a mate with broader cap and 

 heavier booting. The Trumpeter, with a small, uneven 

 rose, needs a mate with a well-developed one, and so 

 through all the various characteristics of the different 

 varieties we must supply in one of the mates, as far as 

 possible, what is lacking in the other. We can not ex- 

 pect to attain perfection in any one specimen, but by 

 close attention to the laws of breeding, as laid down in 

 this and other manuals, we must expect to reach a high- 

 er standard of excellence than can be reached by chance 

 or haphazard breeding. 



Many in reading this article might suppose I had 

 reference wholly to solid-colored birds in my remarks 

 concerning color, but the same principle applies to all 

 parti-colored birds as well, such as the Swallow, the 

 Turbit, the Nun, the Magpie, etc. For instance, in mat- 

 ing Swallows and Turbits we aim. to avoid mating two 

 birds together with a tendency to show too much color, 

 which manifests itself in foul feathers on the breast, 

 thighs, neck, and head; in the Nun in too great a de- 

 velopment of the bib, too many colored flights, too much 

 coloring in the cap ; in the Magpie with too much color 

 on the breast and back ; and so with others of like char- 

 acter, like the Helmet, the Shield, the Spot, the Jacobin, 

 and Bald Tumbler. All need to be mated so that the 

 color shall be evenly distributed in the portions of the 

 body to which it belongs. 



In breeding several varieties together in one loft, with 

 the utmost care our attempts at perfect breeding will 

 sometimes be baffled by a very amorous hen receiving 

 the attentions of a cock more active than her mate. This 

 does not often occur, and unless one can confine himself 

 to one variety and one color, is a chance that must be 



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