82 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON EEEFEK. 



hardens it. But unless the bird is wanted to show as a young 

 one, it is not desirable the wattle should grow too fast in the 

 early months, and liberty will do much, not only to strengthen 

 the constitution generally, but so to harden the eye-wattle that 

 it will be far less likely to run into spouts later on. Birds 

 inclined to be fleshy-eyed are peculiarly benefited by such 

 natural treatment ; indeed, there can be little doubt that the 

 soft and fleshy texture has been developed mainly by continuous 

 breeding in confinement in a somewhat warm temperature, and 

 that liberty tends to produce return to a harder and better 

 condition. We therefore, wherever it can be done, strongly 

 advise flying young Carriers, but breeding hens especially, up 

 to the age of six or seven months ; after that they must be 

 kept to the aviary in most cases, or the growth of wattle will 

 probably suffer, and the beaks become too dark. 



Length of feather is kept up by breeding from birds hatched 

 tolerably early in the year, late-hatched birds being nearly 

 always short in quill, and transmitting the same quality to their 

 progeny. As regards mere size of wattle, also, it is to be ob- 

 served that this is often lost, in some degree, by breeding together 

 young birds on both sides — i. e., birds hatched the season before. 

 On the other hand, these young ones are apt to produce the 

 longest-necked and most " racy "-looking progeny ; so that the 

 breeder has in his hands considerable control over these points, 

 apart from the properties of his strain. The most usual plan 

 is to put a full-grown cock with a young -hen, endeavouring 

 thus to combine good development with fine neck and gullet, 

 and also because cocks will generally breed long after heris 

 are often barren. If, however, pains are taken to preserve the 

 constitution of the hens, and, above all, if those found to breed 

 good stock are not shown much, they can be preserved with 

 their breeding powers unimpaired for many years. Nothing 

 destroys the constitution of a Carrier hen more surely than often 

 ihowinz her ; and it does not pay to exhibit one proved to breed 



