HOW TO BUY BIRDS 87 



An honest dealer is not only willing to answer all 

 such questions, but will back them up. with his written 

 guarantee. A gentleman on the Pacific coast bought 

 100 pairs of birds from a New England concern, kept 

 them six months and did not get 20 pairs of squabs. 

 These birds had been bought without any written 

 guarantee that the birds were mated. He then bought 

 12 pairs with the written promise that the birds were 

 mated and would soon go to work. These birds were 

 shipped 3,000 miles, the same distance as the others 

 purchased. In six weeks after their arrival, each 

 pair had eggs or squabs. The birds proved the dealer's 

 words were true. In the former case, they did not 

 sustain the dealer's promises. 



The only way to sell properly mated birds is to take 

 them off the nests containing their own eggs or 

 squabs. The seller then knows positively that his 

 birds are mated. He can truthfully and fearlessly 

 guarantee that they are mated. We say fearlessly, for 

 his birds, if they mated, may be trusted implicitly 

 to back up his word by making nests shortly after they 

 are established in their new quarters. 



