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insects to leave the nest ; be careful in shifting young birds that yon do not give s 

 pan with the nest made of wormwood where before it was made of straw, for from 

 the strong smell, the old birds may discover it ; but put a little in all the pans. 



Whenever you shift young Almonds, be sure and put the number of the penn, 

 or a mark on the pan, by which you will know the pedigree of the young birds, 

 and as soon as pretty well feathered, enter them into a book kept for that purpose : 

 it is useless to attempt to trust to memory if you have a number of birds. You 

 will in your experience find that birds on some days would feed half a dozen 

 young birds, and other days not feed at all ; and vice, versa, with other birds ; you 

 must therefore shift the pan with the young birds where they will get fed, otherwise 

 they will die ; those old birds that did not feed will sit on and keep the fed birds 

 warm, and feed well the next day ; therefore you will perceive that it is quite 

 immaterial where the pan is shifted to, having the number or mark on it ; you 

 must also mark the pan when you give them a clean one, and should you be very 

 particular about your nest pans, or use pots to cover the nest pans, have a model 

 made at a turner's, and take it to any pottery, they will make it to your pattern ; 

 have plenty of nests made in the pans, and by placing them one in another, say 

 twelve high, the weight and pressure forms them nicely — do not spoil a ship for a 

 halfpenny's worth of tar, or else I leave you to guess what will follow. I am at a 

 loss to know why I should have written so much on the subject of insects and 

 cleanliness, for my birds are not allowed to be dirty, unless it is to put you upon 

 your guard against them. The plan I have adopted with regard to making the 

 nests in the pans with matting, sawdust, and wormwood, this season, has answered 

 the purpose beyond my utmost expectations. 



You will have observed in a part of this work, treating on the marks by which 

 to ascertain the colours of young birds in the nest, if the beak has no mark on it 

 but is quite white, the bird will be an Almond ; this is true and false at the same 

 time : the Almond will have a white beak, and the white Agate coming from 

 Almonds, also will have a white beak, but the experienced Fancier will, at a few 

 days old, discover whether it is an Almond or white Agate, and so will you my 

 young and inexperienced Fancier. For it is all plain to him who understands, 

 and I will inform you how to discover it, — look at the eye or eyelid, if a white 

 Agate it will appear ferrety, red, and fiery ; while the Almond will be the contrary. 

 The other remarks as to the colour of the birds by the beak, my experience teaches 

 me is correct, and the Fancier who first discovered it must have been a very close 

 observer, and entitled to great credit. If you match extraordinary rich feathered 

 Almonds together, you will breed more or less Agates, of various colours — 

 yellows, reds, &c. some of these birds have beautiful pearl eyes ; but if you breed 

 a pure white, which is still termed an Agate (owing to its coming from Almonds) 

 which rarely have pearl eyes, otherwise would be considered a curiosity, a proof 

 that you had matched your birds too high, as it is called. 



I feel great pleasure in seeing how heartily my birds engage in washing them- 

 selves, and should think that a bird was not well that did not wash with great 

 earnestness; if I became possessed of a fresh bird, the first thing I should observe is 

 whether the bird took delight in washing j and if not, should say to myself, this 

 is no favorite of mine, unless possessing some undeniable properties, for I cannot 

 endure a bird dirty in body with a scrubby flight and tail Deep earthen pans are 

 extremely dangerous, there being no foothold for the birds to get up the sides, and 

 many a good bird is drowned. I will endeavour, my young Fancier, to guard you 

 against such a calamity, by informing you of the construction of my tubs for the 

 washing and cleansing of tlie birds, my tubs are twenty inches in diameter, six 

 inches high, both in the clear, with four steps all round the tubs equal distances 

 and one inch Wide (similar to steps to go down into a bath or a staircase) ; and 

 should some of your pigeons stand low, and enter the tubs with avidity, and if 

 they get out of their depth, they rush to the sides and climb up the steps, otherwise 

 they would be drowned. There is a small brass plug at the bottom of the tub to 



