Successful Exhibiting. 131 



regttlar attention needed. 



It is impossible to keep a bird or animal right up 

 to concert pitch for a longer period than forty-eight 

 hours. This being so, it will be seen how rrecessary 

 it is for birds to be given regular attention unless 

 great inroads are to be made upon their constitutions. 

 I urge this not altogether to assist my readers to win 

 prizes, but because I have an intense love for the dumb 

 creation, and it pains me to see Pigeons tortured by the 

 thoughtlessness of their owners. I like to see a 

 Pigeon with its eye bright and clear, its head held 

 firmly, its tail expanded as it bows and sweeps round 

 the pen with a merry joyous coo. In such a state a 

 bird appeals to my sense of the beautiful, and also to 

 my critical faculty as a judge. But when the eye is 

 closed, the head held listlessly, the wings drooping, 

 and the tail resting on the floor of the pen, my feelings 

 are outraged. 



Condition is nine points of the law in showing, 

 viewed only from a selfish standpoint — the desire of 

 victory. But above and be}'ond this it is every man's 

 dutj^ to keep his pets in a fit and healthy state, so that 

 thej' may enjoy life even as does their master. 



