70 PIGEONS. 



It is singular that at the distance of a century two sales of first-class Pouters 

 should occur, at both of which the birds should average almost exactly the same 

 price : at the sale in 1761, thirty-seven birds produced £92 9s. 6(7., almost exactly 

 £2 10s. each, and in 1862 seventy birds realized the sum of £180 5s. 6d., 

 being an average of £2 lis. 6d. each. At neither sale did the best specimens 

 produce their full value, and at both the inferior birds were sold far beyond their 

 real worth. 



The author of the " Treatise" states that many of the birds sold in 1765 were 

 very indifferent, and that the best afterwards sold for a much higher price than 

 they realized at the auction ; so with Mr. Bult's birds, many of the inferior 

 specimens were resold at Mr. Stevens's in subsequent seasons, and produced 

 only a portion of their first cost, whilst many of the best specimens, afterwards 

 privately resold, produced much larger sums than they did when disposed of by 

 the hammer of Mr. Stevens. 



High as these prices obtained at these sales may appear, they have been far 

 surpassed at the present time: £10 is by no means an uncommon price for a good- 

 limbed and well-marked bird, and as large a sum as £20 each has not un- 

 frequently been given for very superior Pouters. In fact, such a sum is always to 

 be obtained for a bird whose properties are sufficiently good to place it as a 

 winner at any of the great shows, such as those of Glasgow, Manchester, or 

 Birmingham. 



