Breeding. 83 



have fertile eggs, and they may rear their young, but 

 there as never the virility, vigour, and vivacitv about 

 their stock that there is about the stock of birds which 

 are not paired up until they are fully matured. If 

 birds are hatched in July tliey are only seven months 

 old when paired up the following February, and this 

 surely is young enough in all conscience \ To mate 

 up birds under this age is to court disaster instead of 

 success. 



To get back, however, to our newly-weaned 

 babies. They nnist be carefully watched for some 

 time, and if they are at all valuable it will not be a 

 case of love's labour lost if they are given a couple of 

 Dixon's Cod Liver Oil and Quinine Capsules each 

 night for a month after they are taken away from 

 their parents. 



The staple food for newly-weaned Pigeons should 

 be the same as that which is given to the breeding 

 birds, and which should be equal parts of maple peas, 

 t'ifes, wheat, and dari, with just a sprinkling of small 

 hiaize ; whilst each night after the\- have had their 

 feed of corn the_\- should be given a dish of Spratt's 

 Pigeon Food. This is a most admirable preparation, 

 Ix-ing strong in protein and carbo-hydrates, and :s of 

 great assistance in building up strong, robust con- 

 stitutions in the young stock, assisting them in the 

 putting on of nniscle and the development of feather. 



CLEARINO OUT THE W.-VSTERS. 



When the second nest of youngsters have 

 reached the weaning stage, they shotild be treated in 

 exactly the same way as that recommended for the 

 first, and by this time, in many varieties the early 

 youngsters will be sufficiently developed for their 

 owners to know if they are likely to be of an>' tise 

 for either show or stock. A large proportion of the 

 birds bred mav be only fit for killing, and the earlier 

 they are killed the less will be the corn-bill ; and the 

 better birds, having more room given them, will 

 develop more freely and become finer and stronger 

 birds than if herded np and overcrowded with a lot 

 of second-raters. Further, from six weeks to two 



