THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 43 



buying and selling that used to be done in shops 

 is now transacted privately in the club-rooms. 

 Sic transit gloria mundi. 



Exultantly I hurried home and deposited my 

 pigeons in a shed previously prepared for their 

 reception in the garden. I felt up in the air 

 for several days afterward, and spent every spare 

 moment I had in company with my Baldheads, 

 watching their merry movements and manners. 

 I soon came to the conclusion that a single pair 

 looked cold and comfortless by themselves, and 

 resolved to possess a pair of every colour — 

 black, red, yellow, blue. After repeated visits 

 to Club Row I brought my stud up to the 

 standard of completion. There was now in- 

 creased flutter and animation and merriment in 

 the old shed. Oh the hours I lingered there, 

 deliciously unconscious of everything but the 

 present moment ! 



I soon learnt that there were birds and birds ; 

 and that mine fell woefully below the standard 

 of perfection. Light dawned gradually, and 

 thus the mystery of " points " was disclosed to 

 me. Pearl eye, clean thigh, clean cut, ten a 

 side were items to be reckoned with. Hereto- 

 fore ignorance was bliss, now knowledge became 

 exasperating. I weeded out the defective birds, 



