96 THE PIGEON BOOK 



In conclusion, I would strongly advise any fancier who 

 contemplates taking up African Owls to go in for one 

 colour only at first, and when he has attained a fair 

 standard of excellence in this particular colour he can 

 then try his hand at some other colour if he feels inclined. 



If the fancier should happen to live in the country, by 

 all means go in for whites, as the absence of smoke is 

 greatly in favour of their plumage; but if, on the other 

 hand, it falls to his lot to reside in a city where factories 

 predominate, then by all means go in for blacks. 



Keep your birds scrupulously clean, give them baths 

 two or three times each week, feed them only on the 

 best small grain, see they have always plenty of grit, and 

 if you start with decent birds you will soon find yourself 

 a prizewinner. 



Oriental Frills. 



The Oriental Frill is undoubtedly one of the prettiest 

 and most artistic of all pigeons that are penned. I have 

 seen perfect strangers to the pigeon fancy stand in front 

 of the beautiful Orientals and admire them not only for 

 their colour, but for their wonderful markings and lacings, 

 and it has always been a surprise to me that such a 

 beautiful variety as this should be passed over by fanciers 

 for the much more ordinary, plainer, and less attractive 

 pigeons that are frequently so much popularised. 



The first introduction to this country of the Oriental 

 Frill was by Mr. H. P. Caridia, a native of Smyrna, 

 about fifty years ago, and it is no doubt from the strains 

 of birds that he introduced that the present-day strains 

 owe their ascendancy. Mr. Caridia contributed some 

 most interesting notes on the subject in Fulton's book of 

 Pigeons, stating that the breed must have been of great 

 antiquity, for he had personally traced it back 120 years. 



