Care of Homing Pigeons. 
273 
point near the window and there diverging to the right and the left ; in these arms a large door- 
way is cut at f and g ; the door, swinging on the point from which the two arms of the partition 
take their origin, will thus close either side. It is shown closing the side^ in the sketch, and that 
at /is left open to the birds on the side of the loft marked c. Such an arrangement is very con- 
venient for more reasons than one. If one has imported birds to breed from — and there is no 
surer mode of obtaining good birds than obtaining them direct from Belgium — they must neces- 
sarily be prisoners so long as one intends to keep them. They, therefore, could have one side of 
the loft reserved for them, without causing any inconvenience with respect to the other birds, which 
may still be flown. Again, in exchanging birds for crossing purposes, the new strains can be put 
into one side of the loft, as shown above ; and further, should the amateur be inclined to keep any of 
the fancy varieties, as Carriers, Jacobins, &c. &c., he can, by this arrangement, do so without 
interfering in any way with his flying birds ; and still, when a change of fancy or policy occurs, his 
loft is ready to be thrown into one at a moment’s notice by removing the door, or even the whole 
or part of the partition. If flying birds only are kept which have their liberty, it will be found 
useful to keep the old birds on one side and the young on the other, that they may be flown 
separately. The partition should be composed of light deal frames, with wire-work over, and the 
lower portion, say two or three feet from the bottom upwards, boarded. These should slide in a 
groove made with a couple of pieces of beading nailed on the floor, and fixed on the roof or ceiling. 
The nest-boxes shown on page 15 of this work will be found to answer admirably for the free 
birds ; but for any prisoners, large nesting-places must be provided, in each of which a pair can be 
at any time confined for a few days, with food and water, and plenty of room for themselves, 
the vessels, and a couple of nest-pans, the use of which larger nesting-places will be seen presently, 
when speaking on the subject of breeding. The general requirements of the loft have already been 
spoken of in an early portion of this work, and a recapitulation is not, therefore, necessary. A very 
convenient form of feeding-trough and hopper, which I use myself, is shown in Fig. 64. As will 
be seen, it is a hopper and trough, with a lifting-lid to the latter, so that the food can at any time 
be cut off by letting down the lid, which can be raised and lowered by a string and pulley without 
going into the loft oneself. This is of some utility when training the birds, and during the 
autumn and winter, when there are no young ones in the nests which require a constant supply. 
The sketch given speaks for itself. The original stands with the back to the wall ; but if used in 
the middle of the loft, being inserted in a hole made for the purpose in the partition of Fig. 63, 
and made a double trough, so that the birds could feed from either side of the trough, front o- 
back, and on either side of the partition of the loft, the trough would be still more useful, as both 
lofts could be supplied with food at one and the same time, thus saving time and trouble ; and by 
the doubling of the trough itself, more birds could feed at once, and, there being more room, less 
35 
