42 



let off the water gently after washing, for you would find the tub and water heavy 

 if you attempted to turn it over, making a terrible mess, besides splashing yourself 

 in the bargain ; take especial care that the waste water is drained off cleverly, so 

 as not to make the slightest mess in your aviary or loft ; the tubs have lids to 

 cover over after washing, which forms a kind of pitching place for the birds ; let 

 the tubs be thick, or place a kind of beading all round the top of the tub about 

 three quarters of an inch wide ; if you do not adopt this plan let the top of the 

 tub be rounded, (it is dangerous to have any sharp edges where there are Almonds) 

 for as the birds are coming out of the water after washing they rest upon the top 

 of the tub, which cleanses their flight and tail ; if they should happen to draw 

 their wings on the floor, (this is called by the gentlemen of the Fancy drop wings) ; 

 in the greatest probability they would not do this if the top of the tub was sharp 

 and hurt their feet, I employed a plasterer to form the steps or stairs inside my 

 tubs for washing, who used compo, and it set as hard as stone ; it is possible a 

 carpenter or cooper would accomplish it. 



I believe few Fanciers ever tried so many experiments as I have, and here I 

 will give you one : — I considered if it was possible to put anything into their water 

 to clear their plumage, and at the same time to destroy the insect, if any were 

 there, without affecting the health of the birds when they drank it. I consulted an 

 eminent chemist upon the subject, it was more than a dose for him ; and therefore 

 I had to prescribe, which bothered me a good while in thinking — at last a thought 

 came into my head that if I put soap into their water, believing that it would not 

 hurt them if tbey drank it, but it might give them a gentle purge, (and recollecting 

 that some Fanciers adopt the plan of taking their shaving box and make a strong 

 lather, and then with their shaving brush rubbing the bird all over to destroy the 

 insects) I got half a pound of soft soap, put into a quart pot, filling it up with 

 boiling water, stirring it up to cause it to dissolve, leaving it in the pot the overnight 

 and then in the morning mixed it with the water they were to wash in ; the birds 

 did not approve as I suppose the colour of the water and did not wash. I cannot 

 help thinking if I had acted more prudently, that when I had pulled out the plug 

 to let off the water after washing, then filling up the tubs again and putting in the 

 quart of soap and water, well mixing it, placing the lid over it to let it settle, and 

 keeping the birds an extra day back from washing, but what they would have 

 eagerly plunged into the water — however, I have not tried it. I would advise 

 that the birds should not have the water to wash in oftener than three times a week, 

 unless it is the hens that are parted from the cocks, for some of them are rank 

 sooner than the cocks ; but it would not be judicious to match them up so early 

 in the spring, and by letting the hens have the water four or five times a week, 

 greatly cools them and somewhat prevents their calling to nest. 



Should it so happen that your taste or fancy lies in having coarse, long-faced, 

 mousey-headed and fiery-eyed birds, then fly them by all means, and not onlyjfly 

 them, but fly them hard, for the harder you fly them, the more rough and coarse 

 you make them. But if, on the contrary, you want them little wonders or 

 nonpareils, short-faced, lofty-heads with good stops, pearl eyes, fine beaks, and 

 less wattled, then above all things " Do not let them fly." 



As regards loam, spare neither pains or expense to get it as good as possible, and 

 soak it in brine, which you can get from your butcher ; turn it out to dry, and 

 then only let your pigeons have it during the breeding and feeding season, 

 believing that it is a great help to old ones in assisting them to feed their 

 young, besides I believe in a measure preventing putrescence in the throat of 

 the young birds ; the brine in the loam, 1 think, sharpens the appetite of the old 

 birds, and I know causes them to drink more, which I think assists the feeding 

 of young birds ; besides the brine or salt cleansing the throat or craw of the 

 young birds. I let my birds have it only during the breeding season. 



I cannot see the utility of mortar where the birds have loam soaked in brine, 

 besides having gravel and grit ; on the contrary, I have experienced in my birds 



