654 
FANCIER S’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
The room in which they are kept should be furnished with 
an area or trap for letting the flight loose, and also furnished 
with loop-holes and bolt-wires, so arranged that although 
they will allow a pigeon to enter it cannot get out unassisted. 
The loft should be made as attractive for them as possible, 
by furnishing it with plenty of clean water, feed, gravel, 
and rock salt, or salt cat, so that when they are let out they 
may give all their attention to flying, and not be searching 
around for something to gratify their appetites ; a dish for 
bathing should also be provided, that their plumage maybe 
in fine clean condition ; in fact every want should be sup- 
plied, and their home be made as attractive as a pigeon-loft 
can be. It is a peculiarity of these birds to fly to a great 
height, and it is necessary for the fancier to be present when 
they are let out, that he may know each individual bird, and 
mark those for breeding and flying that rise to the greatest 
height. Thus, by careful selection from his young stock, he 
can establish a flight of a dozen or so birds that will cheer 
his heart and do him great credit. But we will suppose the 
fancier has worked patiently for years, and has finally estab- 
lished a respectable flock ; we go with him some bright May 
morning to the home of his feathered favorites ; they have 
learned his step so well that, as soon as we reach the en- 
trance, and before the door is opened, we can hear their de- 
lighted fluttering; they well know that the hand that turns 
the key in the lock never comes except it brings them some 
dainty to feast on. This time their treat is canary-seed, and as 
their master scatters it around they eagerly seize it, and never 
leave otf the search until every grain is devoured But we 
have come to give them a fly. At this time of the day they 
know what the visit means, and as soon as the trap is opened 
they are ready and off. As I have said, it is a morning in 
May, the air soft and balmy, the skies bright and clear, un- 
flecked even by a passing cloud. The birds feel the influ- 
ence of the invigorating air, and rise in circles higher and 
higher, their bright, clean plumage glistening in the sunlight, 
their peculiar markings showing to the greatest advantage. 
Now one throws a somersault, but it is so neatly done that 
he never leaves the flight ; again, another shows his agility, 
and so they keep soaring and tumbling, and yet all so close 
together that your pocket handkerchief could cover them ; 
but your neck begins to ache from so constantly gazing up- 
ward, and you turn to earth awhile to relieve the strain upon 
it. In commenting on the qualities of the favorite birds an 
hour slips away, and when you again turn your eyes heaven- 
ward nothing but empty space meets your gaze. Where are 
they ? What has become of them ? Have they settled on 
some neighboring roof? Ho! you look again, and away up 
as far as you can see, a number of glistening specks greet 
your eyes, and as you continue to look the forms of the birds 
descending come distinctly into view ; down they gradually 
come, circling and tumbling as before, until with one last 
tumble and pitch they settle all about you, showing as little 
appearance of fatigue as the high-mettled race-horse after a 
two-mile heat. They rush for the loop-holes, are soon in- 
side, and attacking the food provided for them, with appe- 
tites such as only such exercise can give. Here, in their loft, 
they remain confined until the usual hour for morning exer- 
cise comes round again, when, if the weather is bright and 
clear, they are indulged with another fly. In flying birds 
care should be taken not to allow a hen out that is just about 
laying, nor if a pair has eggs, to allow both to fly together, 
as they may fly so long as to allow the eggs to get cold. Or, 
again, if it is the morning when you let them fly, and the 
pair go out together, the cock will be likely to leave the flight 
after flying a short time, and come back to the nest; his 
doing so will be very apt to cause the whole flight to settle. 
I should greatly like to have this amusement become gen- 
eral, and to all lovers of this fancy can truly say, nothing in 
this way can give you more pleasure than in training and 
watching a flock of High Flying Tumblers. 
Blue Jacobin. 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
A FANCY. 
When I look back at the period of my boyhood I find 
that my happiest hours were those spent among my pets, the 
first of which were pigeons and chickens ; after those, but 
not excluding them, come cattle, horses, and last, but most 
important, members of the fair sex. I freely confess that 
in my attachments I fared best with the pigeons. They 
were least aggressive, required least attention, and, by their 
gentleness and contentedness, best repaid the efforts made 
for their benefit. Could I retrace my steps in life to any 
particular period, it would be to that when, as a lonely boy, 
1 sat in my loft, surrounded by the feathered beauties, which 
fearlessly ate from my hand or plumed their feathers on my 
knee. 
The girl of the family expends her affection upon dolls; 
she begins at a very early age to dandle her rag baby ; she 
nurses it by day and lays it against her cheek at night. The 
dirtier and more ragged it is, the dearer is it to her. This 
feeling grows with her growth and strengthens with her 
strength, and ultimately embraces her husband and children, 
and increases their happiness by its very abundance. Is 
this feeling to be stifled? All experience says no, and yet, 
when the same affection expresses itself in the boy, by the 
interest he shows in pets, the tendency is to discourage it, 
for fear it may interfere with his lessons or prevent him 
from becoming manly. By this stifling of all expression of 
affection the boy becomes callous to all objects to which he 
should be attached, and comes to regard his parents with 
disrespect and his sisters with contempt. 
I well remember the boys, the friends of my youth, whose 
hearts were almost bursting for the want of something to 
love, who came to my lofts and sat, hour after hour, in 
silent contemplation of what they saw there. They had no 
such things at home; there was too much dirt connected 
with pigeons and chickens, and cats and dogs were flea-in- 
fested ; therefore, “no pets, my son, if you please.” Those 
boys became as arid and dry in their sentiments as is the 
Sahara of Africa in temperature; and why? Because the 
best feelings of their natures were repressed. Nature neces- 
sitates an attachment to something, therefore if a boy or 
girl, a man or woman, takes a fancy to a pet of any descrip- 
tion, and has the slightest opportunity to indulge the fancy, 
in the name of all that is good, let them do so. By doing 
so they will encourage the only part of their natures whence 
they obtain pleasure, and pleasure is the only thing that 
makes life endurable. I go among men and see them striv- 
ing for wealth ; they rush on, charge and struggle for mas- 
tery ; at night they count the opportunities won or lost, and 
plot for the morrow. Their wives know them only as irri- 
table boarders; their children shrink to bed before their 
appearance, and scarce ever see them. They die from ner- 
vous exhaustion before their prime, or spend the last days of 
their lives in an asylum. These are men who were forced 
through school with the affections crushed ; were graduated 
