276 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
all together, being so prone to interfere with the enjoyment of the conjugal rights of their fellow 
cocks, that many of the eggs are ‘ clear,’ that is, not fertilised by the male birds. This is a 
frequent source of annoyance and disappointment, but may be remedied by allowing each pair 
when going to nest to have the loft to itself for a short time. Care must be taken that birds 
nearly related are not mated together so as to breed in-and-in, but crossed with fresh blood as far 
as possible, thus being more likely to hatch strong birds, and even then several eggs may not 
hatch out properly, as the birds being confined after having enjoyed their liberty seldom breed 
so successfully as could be desired. It will not do, therefore, to breed in-and-in with birds which 
are prisoners ; and I go further and object outright to in-and-in breeding in any case whatever with 
Homing Pigeons, or any birds, in fact, which are required to be strong, healthy, and robust. In 
matching up the birds, the simple rule is to use only those which have given some evidence of 
excellence in flying : a bird that invariably comes in late, or is constantly beaten, ought not to be 
bred from, because the use of such a bird does not tend to improve one’s strain. The birds hatched 
before the end of July will be found the best for breeding, as also for flying. As to colour, 
amateurs who make flying their sole object take no heed of how the birds are matched in this 
respect; and as a rule, one can never tell what colour may not be bred from any given pair of 
Belgian birds, as they may, during the last two or three generations, have been bred from as many 
different colours. Very often from well-coloured birds of any one colour, say Blue Chequer, a 
Red Chequer young bird will come, possibly with a splash of white in it ; from a Mealy cock and 
Blue Chequer hen I have just bred a young Mealy with a large white spot on the top of the 
head, and sometimes a white bird comes to light from them. Thus one cannot at present rely on 
the birds breeding anything like true to colour, whatever we may be able to do after a few years 
of attentive breeding for that particular point. The birds may be paired at the end of January, or 
during February, if the weather be not too cold, as then the first young may be hatched in 
February or early in March ; and provided the season be favourable, it is advisable to get the young 
ones hatched as early as possible. As a general rule, the birds are allowed to rear their own 
young ones, but some amateurs have a few common feeders, to which they transfer one young one, 
that each bird may have the full care and attention of two parents. If the old birds are engaged 
in any race it is of course advisable to transfer the eggs or young to a pair of feeders, so that there 
may be no risk of losing them through the absence of one or both of the parents. The young 
birds being hatched and grown old enough to take care of themselves, they may with advantage 
be placed in one part of the loft to themselves, if possible, with means of egress and ingress, for 
the purpose of outdoor exercise, as they are then more likely to fly round well than if let out with 
the old ones, which are probably at nest, and going out for a hurried turn round the house, come 
in again to the eggs or young in the nest. If space cannot be afforded for this purpose, the 
youngsters must be content to fly with the other stock. 
“ They should be let out in the morning as early as convenient, and without being fed. Here 
is one advantage of the feeding-hopper I have before described, with the lid to the trough, as that 
may be let down at night, and the birds are thus prevented from feeding before they are sent for 
their morning spin. If they are regularly let out every morning, they will soon get into the habit 
of going off at once for a good fly, and being hungry will then come in for their breakfast, pass 
through the bolting wires, and are secured from hanging about outside the loft during the day. 
They should not be let out again after a good meal, or they will loiter. They will soon under- 
stand the use of the bolting wires, and, if a little shy of them at first, will use the dropping holes 
till accustomed to the proper entrance. Young birds ought never to be let out with their crops 
full, or they will speedily fall into the habit of sitting outside the loft asleep for an hour 
