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There are some rich Fanciers who will stand at nothing as regards expence, 

 and where they breed on the floor, cut away the flooring to let in the nest pan 

 flush or nearly so, similar to the basin in wash-hand stands. It can be done in 

 any of the penns above, by letting the bottom of the pan come through the penn 

 below ; or you can have false bottoms to your penns. The cause of their adopting 

 this plan is, that some of the young birds are restless by some means, and get 

 out of their pans, and after rambling about in their penns, fall again into their nest 

 pans; on the contrary, if this plan is not adopted, the birds that could not regain 

 possession of their pan owing to being young, or badly fledged, and if the night 

 is cold, you woiild most probably find them dead in the morning. Many valuable 

 birds are lost, which otherwise would have been saved, had the former plan been 

 adopted. I do not approve of pitching boards projecting before the penns, but would 

 rather them made flush with the penns ; for merry cocks would be pitching on any 

 of these boards, consequently being higher, would, if they did no flirther mischief, 

 tantalize or worry the birds to whom the penn belonged, 



I think there is no occasion for a penn to be two feet square, it is larger than 

 there is occasion for and appears unsightly. I will endeavour to give you an idea 

 of what I think would look better, a penn two feet long, eighteen inches deep, 

 sixteert inches high in the clear, shifting fronts, the bottom of the door five inches 

 from the bottom of the pen, to prevent the young ones getting out ; let the door- 

 way be open to the top, which will be eleven inches high ; let it be ten inches wide 

 and placed in the centre of the penn, rabbetted and fastened with two buttons on 

 the outside, the bars not exceeding one inch and a half, mortised in to give a 

 neater appearance. Although I have shewn the advantages derived by sinking the 

 nest pans, I would stjll have a shelf half way between the top and the bottom of 

 the penn, just big enough and nothing to spare, with a hole in it to receive the pan, 

 and the birds to fly up on the edge of the pan, direct over the pan that is sunk in 

 the bottom of the penn, for it might be that the old ones were setting in the above 

 pans, while finishing off' young ones below ; the rail of the small door framing 

 forms the pitching hoard which is flush with the pen ; this is one cause why I 

 approve of large entrances to the penns, but there is still another and greater, and 

 that is preventing them from striking the joints of their wings, greatly injuring 

 them, causing wens and crippling them for life. I should advise the young 

 Fancier to look round and see if there was any thing in the aviary or loft, 

 provided the bird flew or came in contact with ; above all things have no sharp 

 edges, let every thing be rounded, even the door ways to your penns, or perches 

 in your aviary or loft, if you have any. My advice to you is to have as few 

 of these as possible, unless, ironically speaking, you are blessed with a wilderness 

 sort of place for your Almonds, and even then there is danger by a friend 

 but stranger to your Almonds, who might firighten and cause them to injure 

 themselves against these uncalled for and. dangerous places. Although I said 

 strangers to your Almonds, it is possible might know more about the Almond 

 than you that are reading, or I that am writing this Treatise, still he is strange 

 to your birds. 



I will suppose my birds would be dirty if I gave them a chance, I will set 

 my wits to work and defy them by removing every thing out of their way 

 which would in the slightest degree soil their plumage, I have my aviary and 

 loft scraped up twice a day, and would have it scraped up three times or 

 oftener if occasion required it ; on the flooring in my aviaries and lofts, I have 

 ■ eleven-inch deals, sawed into three equal widths, which is nearly three inches 

 and three quarters each, and fixing them edgways on the floors, about twelve 

 inches apart, now these boards being three inches and three quarters high from 

 the ground floor and as the pigeon is fond of resting upon something, prevents 

 their tail and flight coming in contact with their dirt on the floor, provided 

 we would allow any to be there. 



