114 Pigeons axd All About Them. 



thology, that the time of the moult must of necessity 

 be a time of severe strain to the birds. Not only 

 have they to keep up the natural forces of their body, 

 but they have also to supply from the source of these 

 forces the material or food, to grow another crop of 

 feathers. This must naturally have a most exhatist- 

 ing and enervating effect tipon the internal economy 

 of birds undergoing the process. This being so, it 

 becomes our duty to see what we can do to assist our 

 pets to go throirgh the moult with the least amount 

 of discomfort possible. 



W.'\RMTH A FACTOR. 



First and foremost we know that warmth is a most 

 desirable and necessary factor in the accomplishment 

 of a quick, healthy, and successful moult. A quick 

 motilt is usually a healthy moult, and a healthy moult 

 is, generally speaking, a successful one. Nature her- 

 self has chosen the most fittin"- time — the end of 

 Summer, when the earth is full of heat from the rays 

 of the stin which have been pouring down upon it for 

 some weeks, and which keeps the nights almost as warm 

 as the daj^s; as at night, when the sun is not shining, 

 the earth gives off its stored heat, thus equalising the 

 temperature of day and night. To secure the ftill 

 benefit of this provision of Nature we want to see to 

 it that the moult in our stock is not delayed. An 

 early moult is a quick one. A late moult is a slow 

 one, caused by the fact that the atmospherical sur- 

 rotmdings are not so favourable, and that as a con- 

 sequence the moult is retarded, and very often un- 

 foreseen and undesirable complications enstie. 



With the end of June fanciers should begin to 

 think of putting away all the apyiurtenances of the 

 breeding season. The sooner breeding is finished the 

 sooner will the old birds drop into moult — that is, the 

 body moult; the big quill feathers are already on the 

 move. In this connection it should be noted that the 

 older a Pigeon becomes the longer it takes to motilt. 

 Thus very old and choice favourites of the loft should 

 not have more than two nests of youngsters taken from 

 them, so as to ensure their getting" well through the 



