Ine Feather's Practical Pigeon Book 



.ciKen, although at times very provoking. SoUd-colored 

 birds are the most satisfactory and easiest to breed, and 

 do not need quite as, fine judgment in mating as the 

 parti-colored varieties. For this reason some discard 

 all others and confine themselves to birds of one color. 



While the difficulties attending the breeding of birds 

 of mixed color are more numerous than that of whole 

 colors, the satisfaction derived from producing good 

 specimens in this line well repays the trials and vexation 

 one is liable to in the attempt. After the second year's 

 breeding one ought to be able to form some correct idea 

 of how to mate his young birds. He also surely knows 

 by this time what his original stock will produce and be 

 prepared to make such changes as his judgment dictates 

 in them. If the original stock live and breed well to- 

 gether by all means let well enough alone. If, however, 

 he finds that their progeny come foully marked, or as 

 it is in the case of parti-colored birds, show too much 

 color, or in the case of solid-colored birds, show deficien- 

 cies or excesses of certain required points, then it will 

 be best to make a change, "breaking" the pair and try- 

 ing them again with mates of your own selection. Per- 

 haps a union with some of their own offspring will pro- 

 duce good results; mating the parent bird, that is de- 

 ficient in some qualities, with a young bird that has an 

 excess of such qualities and vice versa. 



But there can be no iron-clad law in this matter; it 

 must be a matter of selection, dictated by your experi- 

 ence and your acquaintance with your birds. There is 

 a tendency with all well-bred stock to transmit their 

 qualities both good and bad, to their offspring, and what 

 we want in mating, is to so_ combine the good qualities, 

 as to reproduce them, to the exclusion of the bad, in the 

 succeeding generation. I do not suppose the time will 



