94 THE PIGEON BOOK 



Like many of the short-billed varieties of pigeons the 

 African Owl cannot be relied on to feed its own young 

 ones, especially after the soft food is exhausted; the 

 reason, of course, is obvious, as both the parents and the 

 young have such short beaks that it is most difficult for 

 the parent bird to vomit the solid com into the youngster's 

 short beak. 



They will occasionally rear their own young with 

 success, but it is far better to use some other long-billed 

 birds as foster parents, changing the young ones when 

 about three or four days old, or, better still, the eggs as 

 soon as they are laid, but the greatest care must be taken 

 in placing the eggs under birds that have laid within a 

 day or so of the same time, or substituting young ones of 

 the same age. 



Personally I find Working Homers, or Magpies, capi- 

 tal foster parents. 



The following is a list of the various colours of Afri- 

 can Owls : White, Black, Blue, Dun, Lavender, Silver, 

 Red, Yellow, Chequers, and Pieds of some of the above 

 various colours. 



We now come to the most important matter — the 

 standard of points, and in this subject I have to thank 

 several of the most noted breeders, exhibitors, and judges 

 of African Owls for their kind assistance in helping me to 

 produce the following standard. 



Number of Points, 100. 



20 The head should be round and large, forming a 

 bold and regular arch from front and side view, well 

 filled in between the eyes and the beak. 



14 The beak, short and stout, the upper mandible 

 showing a downward curve, fitting evenly over the 



