24 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



them ? Many poor people are Fanciers : I am 

 pleased to accentuate the fact. The reason lies in 

 a nutshell. It is because Pigeons are an amuse- 

 ment not too expensive for their shallow purse 

 to maintain. A rich man gives £260 for an 

 orchid or ;^I500 for an engraving to gratify his 

 elegant taste. The Patissier Francais recently 

 sold for ;^6oo, and is a wretchedly printed little 

 cookery-book of the Elzevirs ; it is not worth 

 a bundle of straw, for it is neither of use nor 

 ornament. While the Psalmorum Codex, a 

 rare book, was ransomed at the princely figure 

 of ;^49SO. The poor man cannot compete in 

 this aristocratic domain of lavish expenditure. 

 Yet he has a desire to excel in something. 

 Here is a hobby in which he can meet all comers 

 on equal footing — he can cultivate rare and 

 exquisite birds. Does this render the birds 

 low ? Or, rather, is it not an exalting and 

 ennobling trait in the poor man's character that 

 he has the wit to appreciate a beautiful natural 

 object. 



Do you accuse a man of " low " taste because 

 he loves flowers ? The Spitalfield weavers 

 reared tulips as vvell as pigeons. Their hobby 

 was the one refining feature in their hard, busy, 

 colourless lives. A flower and a bird, two of 



