June, 1916 
35 
A five-foot shelf of homers, the racing pigeons of today 
THE FUN IN RAISING FANCY PIGEONS 
Ridinga Cosmopolitan Hobby ThatAppeals to Young and Old, Rich and Poo r—Po u t - 
ers, Tumblers, and Other Kinds with Fantastic Feathers and Distinctive Traits 
E. I. FARRINGTON 
Photographs by J. M. Rutter and Others 
T HE keeping of 
fancy pigeons 
is a highly cosmo¬ 
politan hobby. The 
prosperous business 
man, the retired 
clergyman, the 
school boy and the 
truck driver meet on 
a common level as 
pigeon fanciers. 
Few people realize 
that the country is 
filled with pigeon en¬ 
thusiasts until they 
visit some of the big 
shows and find end¬ 
less rows of cages 
occupied by a bewildering variety of birds, 
many of them very handsome in form and 
feather, and others merely strange and odd. 
There is an old saying among pigeon breed¬ 
ers, “Once a fancier, always a fancier,’’ 
and it is true that the hobby is one which 
many men ride a long time. 
There is more to the pigeon fancy, 
though, than merely keeping pigeons. Of 
course, there is pleasure in watching and 
handling the birds, but the real fascination 
comes in breeding them so as to obtain cer¬ 
tain desired results in markings or shape. 
Perhaps there is an element of chance which 
appeals to the gambling instinct resident in 
most men, but the experienced fancier has 
an ideal toward which he works in all his 
matings, and when he raises a winner, his 
enthusiasm is unbounded. 
There are several good reasons 
for the popularity of pigeon breed¬ 
ing as a pastime. Only a little work 
is involved in the care of a few birds. 
The busy commuter can do it all and 
still not miss his train if he will get 
up but ten minutes 
earlier. Wealthy 
breeders spend thou¬ 
sands of dollars for 
pigeon houses, but 
just as good birds 
can be raised in a 
back yard loft, and 
a start can be made 
for a few dollars, 
although the fancier 
with plenty of 
money may be will¬ 
ing to pay a hun¬ 
dred or two for a 
single specimen that 
suits his eye. It 
isn’t necessary to 
change one’s clothing when going into a well 
kept pigeon loft, and there is no prettier 
sight to the man who loves the beautiful in 
feathers than a choice collection of high 
bred pigeons. 
As to Varieties 
When it comes to choosing the kind of 
pigeons to keep, the amateur fancier is 
likely to be perplexed, for the number of 
classes and varieties seems almost endless. 
If he is wise, though, he will select a breed 
that is pretty well known and whose traits 
are firmly fixed. Probably fantails are the 
greatest favorites among beginners, for they 
are among the handsomest of all pigeons, 
hardy, intelligent and easy to handle. Yet 
to breed prize winners requires all the art 
of the most experienced fancier, so that 
while fantails are 
good pigeons for the 
amateur, they are 
by no means strict¬ 
ly amateur’s birds. 
White fantails are 
most often seen, but 
there are blacks, 
reds, yellows, blues 
and saddlebacks as 
well, all very proud 
looking little birds 
as they strut about 
on tiptoe, almost top¬ 
pling over back¬ 
wards. 
Pouters, too, are 
high in favor and 
are always interesting, especially when they 
inflate their crops until their heads seem 
perched on the top of a great ball. A good 
pouter is tall and slender, with its flight 
feathers held close to its body and its legs 
set well back, giving it such a trim appear¬ 
ance and military bearing that one feels 
like addressing it as “Colonel.” Pigmy 
pouters are simply pocket editions of their 
larger cousins and come in the same variety 
of colors, including white, red, black and 
yellow. 
Although carrier pigeons can hardly be 
called good looking, even by their most 
ardent admirers, they are widely bred and 
competition at the shows is always keen. 
In spite of its misleading name, this is not 
the pigeon which is used for carrying mes¬ 
sages, as most people suppose it to be. The 
bird actually employed for this pur¬ 
pose is the homer, which is a wholly 
different sort of pigeon, with strong 
wings and a broad chest, but no un¬ 
usual markings to attract the un- 
(Continued on page 66) 
Frills are small, compact 
birds, beautifully colored 
and dainty and neat in ap¬ 
pearance 
The fantail, in white or 
darker colors, is always a 
popular breed among ama¬ 
teur fanciers 
The jacobin wears a feather boa 
all the year 'round, almost hiding 
its eyes 
A pair of carriers. These are not the birds used in 
carrying messages—that service is performed by 
homers 
A good pouter is tall and slender, 
trim looking and with an almost 
military bearing 
