PIGEONS AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 58 



IN THE LOFT. 



WE will now suppose that the fancier has purchased his 

 birds aud is all ready to try the mysteries of breeding-. 

 His heart is full of hope, and he will liiid himself 

 sitting for hours in his loft, watching his birds. 



If he has a large air coop, he will open his window aud let 

 his birds bathe, if it is a pretty day, or if he has Hying birds, 

 he will let them out. If he is starting a yard loft, he will 

 find It a good idea to have his bob-wire in position, so that 

 he can keep the run of his ilock. It is all right to clap a 

 board in front of an entrance hole or jam ones hat in it, if no 

 board is handy after the birds are in, but an easily shifted 

 bob-wire is almost a necessity in every loft of flying birds, 

 and is so handy that no loft is complete without it. Tlie 

 idea in a shifting one is that it can be hung on the wall or 

 slid to one side when not in use, and then only a slight ])ush 

 puts it in place and the fancier can go away with the know- 

 ledge that as fast as each bird goes in it is there to stay till 

 he lets it out. 



To make it, make a frame like a slate frame, and fasten by 

 hinges to the upper part, a small strip'inio which three stiff 

 and heavy wires have been drilled. Have thtni just long 

 enough to fall past the lower part of the frame and have the 

 strip work so easily that the slightest push of a bird will 

 cause it to swing inward. Pieces of thin leather will do as 

 well as the hinges and being protected from the weather, 

 will last a long time. One can work one of the sliding bob- 

 wires by a cord, so as to open or shut it without going into 

 the loft. 



