TAMPERING WITH THE HEAD. 119 



of the bronze or "colour" through the feather. The object 

 always is to supply the missing element.. As a rule the Kites 

 with plenty of bronze are much more useful than the nearly 

 black ones. On the whole, the matches of Almond to dark 

 Almond or Kite, and of Splashes to various shades of Agates 

 and Whole-feathers, are most common amongst old breeders. 

 We trust we have made the general principle plain ; and also 

 how much depends upon the pedigree or previous. breedin". 



In relation to otlier points, and especially points of head 

 and carriage, we can only insist upon the imi^rtance of pairing 

 the best together, if it be only a few pairs. It is common for 

 beginners, if they have say ten really fine-headed birds, to try 

 and pair them with ten other moderate birds. This is lost 

 time and labotu-; whereas if they paired them up as five first- 

 class pairs, they would probably produce something good. The 

 policy alluded to is bad in all pigeons ; Init in Almonds, or 

 any Short-faced Tumblers, it is simply hopeless, so high is the 

 standard demanded. 



In regard to the heads, however, it is necessary to state 

 that at one time very few birds were shown whose heads had 

 not been tampere 1 with, an implement of wood like Fig. 24 

 being pressed into 

 the bottom of the 

 forehead daily, 

 from the time the 

 bird was a few 



days old, till the Kg. 24.-Head-mo.lde«. 



skull was " set.'' If it was done too severely the young one 

 died, and many did die : if not thus overdone, and the head at 

 starting was decently good, the result was a " grand head and 

 stop.'' ' The process is one of very great cruelty, the skull being 

 literally crushed into shape, with immediately fatal results in 

 scores of cases. In many other cases where the bird survived, 

 it suffered for life ; the nostrils being crushed almost together, 



