68 



PIGEONS. 



taking care that they pass on into the crop and do not collect in the gullet, where, 

 by pressing the windpipe, they might stop the breathing. 



The object of soaking the beans is twofold. By it they are rendered larger, and 

 so are more easily handled, and sufficient water is given at the same time as the 

 food ; this is a great advantage, for at the early stage at which some Pouters 

 require feeding, it is difficult to induce them to drink. 



Those who, like ourselves, have had the pleasure of witnessing the scene from the 

 windows of Mr. Bult's house, will acknowledge that his arrangements were the very 

 perfection of pigeon-keeping. The extreme cleanliness of the houses and pens, the 

 beauty of the birds, now prancing proudly on the lawn, and then, as it were, in the 

 very exuberance of their animal spirits, starting off on a short flight with loud-slap- 

 ping wings and inflated crops, and the pleasing variety occasioned by the different 

 colours of the birds, combined to render the picture most attractive. 



The pure white contrasted well with the black-pied, and the reds and yellows 

 with the blue-pied, although these latter, in the elegance of their marking, are 

 perhaps in advance of all the others. 



After the death of Mr. Bult, which took place in 1862, this valuable stud 

 of birds was disposed of on November 18th, 1862, by the hammer of Mr. J. C. 

 Stevens, of King Street, Co vent Garden. The following account of the sale 

 appeared in The Field of November 22nd, in the form of a letter from a corres- 

 pondent : — 



" Sir, — As a witness to the most remarkable sale of pigeons that has occurred in 

 my recollection (and I am now rather an old fancier), I beg to send you the follow- 

 ing account of the auction at which Mr. Bult's Pouters were sold, on Tuesday last. 

 The number of birds sold must have been very nearly, if not quite, seventy, and 

 the money they produced could not have been much under £200. Among the 

 more remarkable birds were the following : — A white cock of extraordinary length 

 of feather, a very good bird, for £5 5s. ; a blue-pied cock, for the same price, which 

 was also realized by a red cock and a black hen. Many birds went at sums vary- 

 ing from £4 to £5, and the entire stud averaged nearly £3 each. 



" As usual in every sale, there were a great many inexperienced buyers who were 

 paying heavily for the worst birds, the best certainly not fetching their full value. 

 The sale attracted buyers from very distant places ; many of the birds went to 

 Manchester, others to Halifax, some to Scotland and Ireland — so that this cele- 

 brated strain will be widely distributed. 



" From the number of Mr. Bult's birds, and the extreme care and attention that 

 was paid to them, they always appeared in public the very pink of cleanliness, and 

 in capital show, hence they never failed to attract a greater amount of attention 

 than most other strains. Of the great merit of his best birds, there can be no 

 doubt, but the surprising fact is that the mere wasters amongst those bred during 

 the last season should find buyers at the price at which they were purchased. 

 After this sale, who can say the pigeon fancy is declining ? 



" COLI'MBA Livia." 



