66 PIGEONS. 



iu a short time, be under the necessity of purchasing more, or exchange (perhaps 

 his best birds) for worse, in order to cross the strain ; for should he (as the term is) 

 breed them in and in, which is matching father and daughter, or any other way 

 incestuously together, the breed would degenerate, and not be worth sixpence; 

 whereas, the same number of Almond Tumblers would inevitably stock him for 

 life, for the breeding of Tumblers in and in would consequently breed them 

 smaller, which is a perfection in them, and they require no attendance while 

 breeding, provided you supply them with meat and water, and throw them a little 

 straw, and do not (like the Pouter) require time to be lavished upon them to make 

 them familiar. Experience teaches us that were Tumblers to be kept in separate 

 pens, as the Pouters are, they would show in the same manner, and be equally as 

 familiar as the Pouter, for the Pouter should be almost constantly attended and 

 talked to, during the winter season, in a phrase peculiar to that fancy, viz., hua ! 

 hua ! stroking them down the back, and clacking to them as to chickens, other- 

 wise they would lose their familiarity, which is one of their greatest beauties, and is 

 termed showing, and would make the finest of them appear despicable, which made 

 a facetious gentleman of my acquaintance say ' that Pouters were a fancy more 

 particularly adapted to weavers, cobblers, and the like kind of trades only, that 

 worked in the same room where they were kept, that the owners might have an 

 opportunity of conversing with them, at the same time they were earning their 

 subsistence.' " 



In breeding Pouters we have tried both the plans of having feeders and of rear- 

 ing the young birds without, and most unhesitatingly give our verdict in opposition 

 to the author of the " Treatise." Feeders are a great trouble ; you must have two 

 pairs for each pair of Pouters, or you cannot ensure their being ready to take the 

 young when required, and sometimes they resent the change and will forsake their 

 charge. By feeling the young birds' crops twice a day, and if they are empty, 

 feeding them with soaked beans, they are readily reared. It may be said, this is 

 troublesome, but good birds are creditable, and will amply repay the owner for 

 the trouble of rearing them. 



The most admirable arrangement for keeping Pouters that has ever fallen under 

 our notice was that adopted by the late Mr. Samuel Bult, of Highgate, who was 

 one of the most ardent admirers of this breed. 



Those fanciers who, like ourselves, had the privilege of seeing this celebrated 

 stud at home, cannot fail to have been struck with the admirable manner in which 

 the birds were cared for. A visitor was never allowed to see them before the 

 houses had been thoroughly cleaned out for the day, the floors freshly swept and 

 gravelled, and the pens strewed with fresh sawdust. If the visit was early in the 

 day, a glass of wine and biscuit served to beguile the time until " William " an- 

 nounced the fact that the birds were ready for inspection : on stepping out on to the 

 lawn at the back of the house, the visitor saw a walled garden of moderate size; at the 

 opposite sides of the lawn were two summerhouses ; which were devoted to the 

 Pouters. In the centre of the lawn was the stump of a low tree, the branches of 



