S6 THE PIGEON-FANCIER. 



the raw material that lies around him unappro- 

 priated — if his little stock would boil down to a 

 solid, you might pack it into a small Gladstone 

 bag and carry it comfortably with one hand. And 

 the Railway Company that charges for luggage 

 according to weight for a few shillings would 

 frank it across a continent. Michael Angelo, 

 the prince of painters, at the age of ninety, said, 

 " Yes, I am still learning to paint." Education 

 is never finished ; so I find in the great Pigeon' 

 question. The Fancy keeps your intellect on the 

 alert. 



When I brought home that last supply of 

 birds, I flattered myself my requirements were per- 

 fected — it put me in good humour. Happy mortal ! 

 I was charged with a buoyancy of spirits that 

 nothing could discompose. This state of beatific 

 calm suddenly collapsed. A difficult problem in- 

 troduced itself upon my mind demanding solution 

 — " Why are not shortfaced balds and beards as 

 fine in head and beak qualities as the almond 

 tumbler ? " That they were inferior I dare not 

 deny. That there was room for improvement in 

 them I tardily confessed. The only reply I 

 could frame, after a course of thought as familiar 

 as the inside of his pocket to any one who 

 thinks at all, was, " I suppose they have not been 



