THE PIGEON BOOK 41 



at the early shows know this so well that they separate 

 their exhibition birds early in the year, stop all breeding 

 from them, and thus force the moult in order that they 

 may be in the best possible plumage during the show 

 season, and, moreover, the moult, taking place in the 

 warm, summer weather, is much more easily accom- 

 plished. 



The Moult in Young Birds. 



This commences shortly after they leave the nest and 

 are able to take care of themselves. The moult proceeds 

 in the same manner as in the old birds, the first feather 

 to fall being the first short primary flight, or, counting 

 from the outside of the wing, the tenth. It is a good 

 sign for this to be thrown without difficulty or delay. 



If any difficulty is experienced in throwing this feather 

 it often goes badly with the subject. 



The least difficulty takes place in the moult of 

 youngsters hatched in April, May, and June. January 

 and February youngsters sometimes are very tardy in the 

 moult, and youngsters bred the latter part of June and 

 after the end of that month seldom moult completely the 

 same year. They will moult the small body feathers, but 

 not the flights or tail. 



The whole of the secondary feathers are not moulted 

 each year. There are some authors who contend that 

 you can judge the age of pigeons by the number of 

 secondary feathers moulted ; that is to say, at three 

 years three will be moulted. This method of judging the 

 age might have been more useful before the introduction 

 of the marking ring, but the latter is a better means of 

 denoting age than the uncertain indication of the 

 secondaries. The new secondaries are broader and more 

 rounded at the ends than the original nest feathers. 



