THE ENGLISH POUTER. 67 



winch had been sawn off, leaving the truncated ends, each of which supported a 

 small platform on which the birds could fly. On the lawn itself were the large 

 shallow vessels in which they bathed. The houses contained the pens, each one of 

 which was about three feet long by eighteen inches in height. The fronts of the 

 pens were made of perpendicular wires. The door formed the middle third, the 

 wires at the two ends being fixtures. At the two extremities of the pens were placed 

 large flat flower-pot saucers, serving as nest-pans, and often a pair of young birds 

 was to be seen at one end, whilst one of the parents was sitting on a pair of eggs 

 at the other. Each pen was furnished with two small pans, one for food, the other 

 for water : these were never empty. 



Mr. Bult did not employ any common birds as feeders for his stock; he had 

 tried the plan and not found it so successful as to induce him to continue it, conse- 

 quently the lowest tier of pens, which had been originally constructed for their 

 accommodation, was devoted to a few Jacobines. Birds of this breed were selected 

 by him because of the contrast their small delicate forms, short legs, and recurved 

 hoods, offered to the large size, elongated limbs, and inflated crops of the Pouters. 



Those of the young birds that required feeding by hand were fed with beans 

 night and morning, and as the interval between the time of their being neglected, 

 wholly or partially, by the parents, and that at which they could feed themselves, 

 was not a long one, this feeding did not involve any great degree of trouble. 



Pouters will always feed their young for a few days, until they have entirely got 

 rid of that secretion from the crop known as the soft food ; hence there is rarely 

 any difficulty with the newly hatched young for eight or nine days ; but shortly 

 after that time the birds, from being highly fed, are desirous of going to nest again. 

 The cock will begin driving the hen, and this leads to a desertion, more or less 

 complete, of the young birds in the nest. To prevent their death, under these 

 circumstances they must either be shifted under other birds that are better feeders, 

 or they must be brought up by feeding them artificially. Some fanciers effect this 

 in a peculiar manner, filling their mouths with peas or tares, followed by a mouth- 

 ful of water. The owner then takes the young bird in his hands, inserts its beak 

 between his lips, and by an action imitative of the method of feeding adopted by 

 the old pigeons, ejects the contents of his mouth into the crop of the young bird. 

 There are pigeon fanciers who are very expert at this operation, and who boast of 

 their power of rearing young birds from a very early age ; but we confess to not 

 having mastered the accomplishment. 



The method of feeding by hand usually adopted is to cram the bird with soaked 

 beans or peas. We prefer the former, as being larger, and not requiring so many 

 to fill the crop. The bird to be fed should be lifted from the nest, or the nest-pan 

 may be taken on the knees as the feeder sits in a low chair; when, placing the left 

 hand over the bird, he holds the head between the finger and thumb, and taking 

 np the beans (which should be conveniently placed) with the right hand, he opens 

 the beak and slips them rapidly, one after another, down the throat of the young ; 



