102 
The Illustrated Boots of Poultry. 
“ Whites, I think, have fallen back a little the last three or four years. They have plenty of 
feather, but they want legs, and many of them have a weedy look. The remedy for this is to breed 
with strong but handsome Splashes, paying attention in particular to length of limb. Few 
marked birds will be bred if the Splashes are properly selected. 
“ A word or two on marking may not be amiss. A bird good in this property has a finished 
look about it very pleasing to the fancier’s eye, but very few are faultless. The rose pinioii is now 
very rare indeed ; I have very seldom been able to get it — the ugly ‘bishop wing’ too often coming 
instead. The ‘bib’ is another great beauty when large and well-defined, but here again the 
‘swallow throat ’ too often comes in its place ; clean thighs, also so desirable, are a constant source 
of anxiety and trouble. To get rid of the brown or kite bars on the wings of the Blue-pied is 
another of the minor difficulties that trouble the Pouter breeder. The black bars are certainly 
beautiful, and every breeder would like them, but very many fine birds are bred with the kite bars 
— birds too valuable to throw aside, so they are used to breed from. The red or orange eye is 
the correct colour, but like the last it is a small fault, as bull or black eyes are often found in 
birds good in all other respects — I never paid much attention to it myself. 
“ I will only now make a few remarks that may be of service to the young fancier. In the 
first place, I would advise perseverance ; without this it is useless to try breeding Pouters, or, 
indeed, any other of the higher descriptions of fancy pigeons. One will try it for a short time, and 
finding he does not breed prize birds at once,- give up in disgust. ‘ They are a lot of plaguy 
brutes,’ he says ; and then he goes into Antwerps, or cloud-climbers, or some sort that requires 
nothing but food and water. Another, of better material, when he finds he does not get what he 
expected, says, ‘ I must be wrong in some way; it has been done by others, and I should like to do 
it also;’ so he thinks it over, and changes his mode of matching, or gets a bird or two that he thinks 
will assist, and tries again ; and very likely he will make a hit, or gain a step in advance. He may, 
however, fall back a little now and then, but is on the whole advancing, and he will soon see that 
what he at one time thought impossible or nearly so is not very far off, and as he goes on finds he 
has in a general w T ay hit the mark. Some begin by selecting the very finest show or prize birds ; 
but this is not necessary, and, besides, it is not in the power of every one, as such birds are now very 
high in price. Let him, above all, get well-bred birds from an old well-established strain, birds 
whose blood will tell in breeding, though they may be faulty in some properties. It has been well 
remarked, by one of the old writers, I think, that ‘ a good fancier will rather have the castaways or 
weeds from a good strain than better-looking birds of which he knows nothing.’ The truth of 
this remark every old fancier must have experienced, as some of the most perfect birds ever bred 
have been from parents that to all appearance were most unlikely to yield such results. This, 
however, is only when they have good blood in them, or are ‘well come,’ as we say in Scotland. 
Birds of this description can always be got at a reasonable price, within the reach of most 
young fanciers. 
“Another error of beginners is that they will only have young birds. Pouters, I am convinced, 
do not breed fine young birds till three years old, and will go on till eight or ten, and I have bred 
very fine ones from birds even older. 
“ Some think it is absolutely necessary to keep a loft full of feeders or nurses. This, 
however, is not in the power of every one, and my experience is that they can to a great extent 
be dispensed with, for many routers rear their young well, and beyond'a doubt it does them good, 
and they thrive better and live longer if allowed to do so. I have never kept feeders specially for 
my Pouters, only sometimes making use of my Fantails when I find a pair are careless of their 
young. If nurses, however, are kept, the Pouters ought to get young to feed for as long as they 
