156 THE PIGEON BOOK 



store it for quite a year, so as to have it old, dry, and 

 sound. I have tried all the artificial cakes that are made 

 in the shape of batter, such as egg, oatmeal, and seeds 

 mixed, stirred up and baked, but have found that I 

 could do just as well with my birds feeding them on 

 barley and a mixed diet of small seeds, similar to Velo, 

 as I could with any of the artificial cakes referred to. 

 Still, I know many Tippler fliers use tonics and various 

 ingredients to get their birds extra fit. 



To get Tipplers to perform well, they must be taught 

 to fast both as to drink and food. That is to say, there 

 should be at least twelve hours between each meal, and 

 after they have been fed, I found it was a good practice 

 to let them have one drink, and then take away the 

 drinking fountain. If particularly anxious to get the very 

 best out of birds, for the last two or three days before 

 a big fly is taking place, milk with the white of an egg 

 can be used for a drink instead of ordinary drinking- 

 water, as there is great sustenance in this, and I have 

 known fanciers to add a teaspoonful of brandy to their 

 birds' water. 



When it is remembered that these birds can be trained 

 to fly continuously in the air within sight of their own 

 lofts for over sixteen or seventeen hours out of twenty- 

 four in the day, it will give some idea of the physical 

 fitness that must be developed in order to get them to 

 perform in this manner. In fact, they become automatic 

 flying machines, and the efforts of flying is purely 

 mechanical, as their buoyancy is so great that they prac- 

 tically keep in the air with only the slightest motion of 

 the wings, and no fatigue whatever. There is nothing 

 prettier, I think, than a nice kit of Tipplers flying well 

 and freely. Those fanciers who take up their breeding 

 should put themselves in communication with a good 



