08 Pigeons and All About Them. 



love calls of her mate, what can one expect ? Shell- 

 less eg"g's, undeveloped young dead in shell, fully 

 developed babes brought to the hour of birth, yet 

 lacking the necessary strength to break the shell 

 enveloping them, and thus gain entrance to life, 

 squabs which die in the nest, squeakers which, though 

 reared, shuffle off to the happy hunting grounds im- 

 mediately the moult commences, because they have not 

 stamina enough in them to withstand the strain on 

 the S3'stem which the moult entails. Is this any fancy 

 picture I have drawn ? Is it not true to life ? Is there 

 one of us with an}' lengthened experience of the Fancy 

 but what has seen many such cases ? There can only 

 he one answer to these searching questions, and that 

 is a direct and unqualified No. What is needed in the 

 following out of all general rules in regard to Fancy 

 matters is more thought as to their applicability to 

 individual cases. How many an ardent young fan- 

 cier wrecks his chances of success by generalising too 

 much, and individualising or specialising too little? 

 General rules and principles are needed, and are quite 

 correct and proper in their place, but we must ever 

 remember that the individual characters, dispositions, 

 and constitutions of our pets must be studied in con- 

 nection with those general rules which must ever be 

 adapted and conformed to local environment. Only 

 bv so doing can we reaji pleasure and profit from our 

 treading out of the maze of the Fancy. 



THE OUESTION OF ENVIRONMENT. 

 Some time since a friend asked ; — " Do you think 

 the embryo is likely to be harmed by unhealthy sur- 

 roundings?" ^lost certainly I do. It is well-known 

 that the shell of an egg is porous, therefore, through 

 the pores the embrj'o must, of necessity, inhale any 

 foulness of atmosphere which may surround the nest 

 pan. It may be that the air of the loft is generally 

 vitiated by some cause which is outside, and this, no 

 doubt, will have its effect upon the young Pigeon, 

 which is, or should be, growing to the perfection of 

 unseen life. In a word, it is, I believe, quite possible 

 for the embryo to be suffocated by impure gases in- 



