39 



walk down the aisles of our different shows,, it is noticed that 

 there are usually more people stop and admire the Fans than any 

 other variety. Their aristocratic carriage, their graceful steps 

 and that peculiar and striking motion of" head and neck are their 

 source of attraction and admiration and they constantly draw 

 forth from the uninitiated the most amusing comments and re- 

 marks. 



The Fantail by nature is not wild and this with their 

 peculiar characteristics makes them a general favorite. They 

 are very easily tamed -and quickly become attached to their 

 owners. Another thing which helps to increase the popularity 

 from an exhibitor's point of view is that one need not be a pro- 

 fessional before being able to tell the good ones from the inferior 

 birds and to pick out his show specimens. They not only please 

 those who keep them solely for the pleasure of seeing them flying 

 about their loft but they appeal strongly to all who take a delight 

 in exhibiting and here the question may be asked, why? Be- 

 cause it is a variety that is not difficult to breed ; that is to say, 

 one need not serve an apprenticeship of several years by keeping 

 the birds constantly before him in order to distinguish the ex- 

 hibition birds. 



The Fans are as a rule good mothers and fathers and so require 

 no foster parents to rear their young, as is the case of some of 

 the short billed varieties, thus the great expense of having extra 

 lofts and retaining other birds to rear the y|Oung is abolished. 

 Contrary to much that has been said the Fantail requires no 

 faking for exhibition purposes. There are pQssibly many who 

 will question this statement and ask, "what about their tails?" 

 True enough, the tail of a Fan is often faked, but you need not 

 resort to this source to get the good exhibition tails. The birds 

 can and are bred with tails that require no manipulation to en- 

 able them to win in fast company, and it is said that the birds 

 whose tails are not faked usually win over those that have been 

 tampered with. 



The novice may, therefore, venture to take up this delightful 

 breed with hopeful expectation of success, provided he uses 

 judgment in securing the parent stock and is careful with his 

 matings. The training to get the required carriage of the Fantail 

 is an art that you will very soon become accustomed to and 

 delighted with as weU. 



