40 Fancy Pigeons. 



strain, and much disappointment saved by procuring such. And yet 

 the very best of pigeons will produce plenty of young ones quite unfit 

 to go on breeding from, as all races living in a strictly artificial state 

 must necessarily do, so a fair amount of quality should be looked for in 

 birds intended to commence breeding from. 



Pigeons are mated together by placing them in contiguous pens, 

 where they can see each other. When in good health they will generally 

 show signs of becoming paired in a few days, but it is, of course, 

 necessary to keep them from the sight of other birds, and especially of 

 their last mates, or it will not be easy to match them up. "When pro- 

 perly paired, it is always as well, when practicable, to place them in a 

 loft apart from their former mates, should they have had such, for even 

 when these are themselves rematched, and with young ones, they will 

 occasionally be inclined to go together again, but in this respect, and in 

 many others, pigeons show the most various dispositions. Two or 

 three lofts save much trouble to the fancier, and he can always work 

 his birds about in them, so as to save time in his breeding operations. 

 When a pair show signs of becoming matched up, they may be allowed 

 to go together for a day, when the union between them will become 

 more fixed than if turned into the loft at once. For this purpose, 

 matching pens have generally a sliding wired division, withdrawable at 

 pleasure. Once or twice in my experience I have found it impossible 

 to permanently match up a pair of pigeons. Though each wonld 

 pair in the ordinary way with other birds, they invariably separated 

 after being together a short time, seeming to have some antipathy 

 to each other. In such a case the only plan for keeping such a pair 

 together, should there be some special reasons for doing so, will be to 

 place them in a room by themselves. 



When all goes well, the pair will soon begin building a nest, if 

 provided with materials for doing so, and, usually within a week, the 

 hen will lay her first Q,g^, very near five o'clock in the evening. She 

 will not sit on it through the following night, but stand over it ; but 

 nest day the cock will generally be in such a hurry to begin the 

 process of incubation, that it is always better to remove the q^% as 

 laid, substituting another, so as to insure the two hatching simul- 

 taneously, for when one is hatched a day before the other, the difference 

 in size and strength of the young ones seems to get more marked 



