THE LIBRARY

OF
THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE ALMOND TUMBLER.

THE PLEASURES

OF A

PIGEON-FANCIER.

BY THE

REV.

"tuCAS.

LONDON :

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET.

1886.
[All rights reserved.']

PRINTED BY BALLANTYKE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON.

3 Dedicate tbi0 3Boofc

(BY PERMISSION)
TO

JOHN RUSK IN, ESQ.,

WHO HAS TAUGHT ME TO SEE BEAUTY IN EARTH AND SEA,

MOUNTAINS AND CLOUDS, IN FLOWERS AND BIRDS,
" AND GOD IN EVERYTHING.

M368433

cAb

J

§fe

PREFACE.

THIS book is the offspring of my leisure hours.
It is not a treatise on Pigeons compiled on
scientific principles. It is an essay. An essay
should be chatty rather than systematic, so
that you can wander off into by-ways that
attract the fancy without transgressing. There
are points of interest that might have been
touched on, such as the descent of all Pigeons
from one common ancestry. But this wide field
of discussion has been so well ploughed by
scientific hands, that I declined to enter upon
it. It is harrowing work to rake 'among other
people's stale thoughts when you have no fresh
ones to add yourself. To Messrs. Fulton,
Gellett, and Woodhouse, my best thanks are due
for assistance rendered.

September 27, 1886.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

I. THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY ... I

II. THE ART OF THE FANCY .... 14

III. THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY ... 23

IV. THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER . . . 41
V. THE DUTIES OF A FANCIER .... 58

VI. A CAUTION TO FANCIERS .... 65
VII. THE FAVOURITES OF THE FANCY—

THE ALMOND TUMBLER .... 77

THE BALDHEAD 90

THE BEARD 112

CONCLUSION H6

INDEX 120

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

ALMOND TUMBLER Frontispiece

GUILDHALL To face page 38

VENICE „ „ 5°

ALMOND TUMBLER— 1765 )

\ . 80-81

„ -1802 )

BALDHEAD » » QO

PORTRAIT OF MR. WOODHOUSE . „ „ 1 04

BEARD „ „ 112

TAILPIECES 40, 64

THE PLEASURES OF A PIGEON-
FANCIER.

CHAPTER I.
THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY.

" MANKIND," says one who has written on the
History of Fiddles, " Mankind may be divided
into two classes — those who play the violin and
those who do not." Our author, observing that
the former class constitute the minority (the
select and prescient few), says of the latter,
that is, the herd of men, with a lofty yet bene-
volent contempt, " Let them not despair. They
cannot all hope to play the fiddle. If they re-
spect, admire, and encourage those who do play
it, that is perhaps sufficient."

The same sharp line of demarcation can be
pronounced by those who write on the History
of Pigeons. Mankind may be divided into two

A

2 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

classes — those who keep pigeons and those who
do not. The former class in " our fancy," as in
the fiddling fraternity, constitute the minority.
Are not all aspirants after human excellence in
the minority ? And the Pigeon- Fancier, from
his happy vantage-ground, surveys with sublime
and pitiful contempt the hapless ignorance of
the vast crowd of human beings who have never
bred a bird, and who cannot tell the difference
between a Carrier and a Barb, a Baldhead and
a Runt. It is lamentable to think that their
education has been so seriously neglected ! Let
them not despair ! If they look upon and admire
the surpassing loveliness of other people's birds,
and purchase them, perhaps that is all that can
be expected of them.

I am thankful that I early in life found a
place amongst the superior and enlightened few
who love the birds for their own sake, and keep
them because of the pure and unmixed gratifica-
tion they afford me. Why do I love Pigeons ?
I cannot tell. Other people do not care for
them. Why do I ? I puzzle my brains and
get no satisfactory reply to my inquiry. I sup-
pose the love of them came to me intuitively and
abides with me permanently. The apple-tree
might just as curiously question why apple bios-

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. 3

soms come on it in the springtime. Who that
has an eye for beauty can look upon an Almond
Tumbler, that tame and graceful creature, the
pet of the fancy, apparelled sumptuously in rich-
hued plumage, and watch the lustre of amethyst,
bathed in emerald, quivering on its shining neck
as it struts about with proud, imperious car-
riage— who can thus observe it without the
splendour of the display evoking an exclamation
of delight ? Written legibly all over the resplen-
dent plumage of the bird is this broad teaching,
which a reverently observant eye can instantly
detect, the love of God shown in the loveliness
of His works. The Creator stamps His gifts
to man with His own seal, and His seal is
Beauty. Everything in nature is beautiful.
And are we to receive into our heart the gross
and treasonable theory of Darwin, that when the
Creator was furnishing a world for man to dwell
in He did not consult the tastes of the occu-
pants ? — that all the beautiful drapery of the sky,
and the floral carpeting of the earth, and the
decorative feather of the bird, came to them by
chance, or by the " agency of selection," to clothe
the bald idea in biological language ?

Take, for instance, the Sky. The material
use and end of the sky is to collect and distil

4 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the vapours of the earth in the gentle dew and
genial shower, and pour down upon the fields
those fertilising streams which are the life of
vegetation, and consequently the life of man and
beast. Could not this be accomplished in some
uninteresting, unbeautiful, and even repulsive
manner ? The Creator might have stretched
over us great black clouds, and caused them to
empty themselves in a monotonous drizzle, and
after their work was done He might make the
manner of their removal as revolting to our feel-
ings. But now see the beauty and the splendour
of their handling ! See the clouds in the morn-
ing when they bar up the road of the merry sun
and ask for his passage a toll of gold ! See
them at night when they trip up the feet of the
nimble moonbeams and detain the silver huntress
from the chase ! See them on a bright summer
afternoon loitering as fancy leads them in light-
some groups across the vault of blue ! And
see them on an autumnal evening burning in
fiery splendours, yet not consumed, as the sun
sinks on the western horizon, crimsoning the
earth and the heavens with the reflection of
their fiery glory, and ask yourself, as you watch
the beauty in their formation and the poetry in
their movements, whether it all means nothing,

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. 5

simply the fortuitous production of the laws of
nature ?

Take the Flowers also. Are they not in-
comparably beautiful, as they tessellate the earth
with a wealth of colour and cunning diversity of
design ? A plainer vesture might have answered
every material purpose of the flower's creation.
There was no necessity for that blaze of colour
if its only office was to feed the cattle or manure
the soil. A common garment would have done
for these common purposes. But because it
was an ordained minister of God to appeal to
the higher faculties of man, and bear its royal
witness to the King of human hearts and lives,
therefore was it clothed with a courtier's robes,
and decked with the honours of heaven's am-
bassador.

Is a Bird lower in the scale of creation than
a flower — or is its beauty less eloquent ? Those
Pigeons that I look upon every day — are their
magnificent markings wasted beauty, or the
pencillings of a Divine Artist ? I believe there
is a religious side to Nature as well as a material
one. Besides existing to give us bread to eat
and water to drink and raiment to put on, she
gives us food for thought and fuel for worship
and beauty for admiration. If you want a revela-

6 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

tion from God, Mr. Fancier, on the week day
when church doors are locked and bolted on
the public, go into your own loft and look around
and think. The Revelation is there, if you have
eyes to see, and heart to appreciate.

My Pigeons yield me annually a bountiful
crop of pure, innocent, and quiet enjoyment.
When in the aviary surrounded by my birds,
with all vain thoughts of the rivalry of the
show-pen out of mind, and all sordid thoughts
of the competition of the Auction Mart equally
distant, I enjoy myself. Time passes pleasantly
taking up this bird, admiring that one, review-
ing the good points of this squeaker, and medi-
tating the best match for that new purchase.
On a warm summer afternoon I sit on the
garden seat in front of the " flight " with one
of Ruskin's books in my hand, having one eye
on the book and the other eye on the birds.
Presently I abandon the book altogether as a
useless subterfuge, and lie full stretch on the
grass in the cool shadow under the leafy poplars
watching the birds merry at play, happy at love-
making, preening their lustrous feathers or lying
restful in the sunshine.

Do you say enjoyment is not an exalted
object in life to pursue ? Enjoyment is as

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. 7

necessary to our well-being as Duty — Recrea-
tion is as healthful as Work. Charles Kingsley
said, "If you have not something to enjoy in
life you are a living grave." In a small quaint
black-letter book I own, printed 1552, called
" The Christian State of Matrimonie " (I love
books as well as birds), the author, Miles Cover-
dale, says, " God did intend man to be happy,
for when He created him He put him in the
Paradise, that is the garden of pleasure." Now
all the world over, a garden with its luscious
fruits and fragrant flowers and springing foun-
tains, is typical of happiness. And man, ever
since he was ousted from that Garden of
Pleasure, has been trying to plant another
garden of his own fashioning, where he may
dwell, lapped in enjoyment and ambrosial rest.
We all want our Eden ! Some people attempt
to plant theirs amidst the glitter and gaiety of
the fashionable world, but the atmosphere is
uncongenial, and their garden withers into a
wilderness. They build their mansions and they
open their Picture Galleries, and they summon
Prima. Donnas, and they offer every inducement
to happiness to come and live there, but hap-
piness will not come. They send footmanned
and postillioned equipage to bring her ; she will

8 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

not ride to their door. They send princely
escort ; she will not take their arm. They make
their gateways triumphal arches ; she will not
ride under them. They upholster sumptuously
their withdrawing rooms ; she will not recline
on their deep-cushioned lounges, nor show her
face in their scintillating mirrors. They spread
a costly banquet on golden plate ; she turns
away from their festivity with unmitigated
disgust !

Their search after happiness cannot be con-
sidered a success. There may be pleasure in
the chase, but they are baffled at the end, be-
cause where they hunt, the covers are empty.
The secret is, men bid too high for their enjoy-
ment ; they fallaciously conclude the more it
costs the more delectable it must be. The
truth lies at the opposite pole. Real pleasure
is found in simple things. The heart easiest
satisfied is the happiest heart. Ruskin says
of his old friend and first Editor, Mr. Harrison,
" He was an object to me of quite special ad-
miration in the quantity of pleasure he could
take in little things." Lord Rothschild paid
£50,000 for two of the Marlborough pictures.
Expensive toys ! Will he extract £50,000 worth
of quiet, profitable enjoyment out of his high art

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. 9

purchase ? I fear not as much enjoyment as
the Spitalfiekf s weaver gets out of his pigeons
when he flies a kit of Rollers in the murky
atmosphere of East London. There was too
much of social rivalry and commercial competi-
tion in the Baron's big purchase for it to give
an adequate supply of heart' s-ease. It fed his
pride — the pride of knowing that he had out-
bid the world, and snatched the prize from
the wealthiest collectors. Pride is not happi-
ness.

What a life of gilded misery old Stephen
Girard the American millionaire led ! Just
before he died he wrote thus to a friend —
" I live like a galley-slave, constantly occupied,
and often passing the night without sleep. I
am worn out with cares. I do not value my
fortune. When I rise in the morning my only
effort is to labour so hard during the day that
I may be able to sleep soundly at night." The
poor rich man had no time for recreation. He
was too busy to laugh. Life was solemn as
a funeral march to him. He needed some hobby
to come between him and his money-making to
relieve his mind and refresh his body. A friend
of mine, an old Fancier, during a pigeon chat
said to me, "If I get worried in business during

io THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the day, and I often do, I come home in the
evening and interest myself with the birds ; I
forget the day's trouble in their company, and so
find a good night's sleep where other men would

miss it."

^

I knew a blind man a Fancier. The birds
and he were great friends and constant com-
panions. He sat in his loft, and they alighted
on his head, his shoulders, his knee. He could
not see them, but he heard them. He would
sit quietly thus for hours, the sun shining upon
his sightless eyes and silvery head, surrounded
by his feathered friends, listening to the flutter
of their wings and the language of their cooing.
He was content and joyous. If one of his
children entered the loft they caught a bird,
described it, and put it in father's hand. He
fondled it a short time and let it go. Oh yes !
our birds help to smooth from the crumpled
countenance the lines of care ; they lead our
minds away from the fretful realm of strife. If
life is monotonous, they provide a healthy diver-
sion ; if life is overwrought, they impart com-
posure to it ; instead of spending our leisure
hours listlessly and stupidly, they furnish an
intelligent and profitable pastime. They help
to adjust the balance and keep the harp of life

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. n

in tune. The poet in satirical verse has well
lashed the follies of the age : —

" My heart is sad with sore misgiving,
I think of days of auld lang syne ;
The world was pleasant then to live in,
And folks were neither fast nor fine.

' ' But everything is out of gear now,

Such push and struggle, care and dread ;
Of God on high we have no fear now,
And down below the devil's dead ;

' ' And things look crumbling all to ruin,

So bleak, so dismal, were it not
For here some billing and there some cooing,
What would there be to live for — what ? "

I have spoken of the pleasure of the Fancy.
Some persons keep pigeons whom I do not
account Fanciers. They keep birds not for
pleasure but for profit ; and when the money
question enters into the calculation, the love of
the thing is bowed out. It assumes a business
aspect at once. For instance, those who keep
birds for racing. Horse-racing and pigeon-
racing I regard with equal abhorrence ; not that
it is impossible to follow each pursuit innocently.
However, the stress of temptation is against it.
Betting follows hard upon the heels of racing.
I have heard high-faluting language about the
" noble " Homer Pigeon — " training its intellec-
tual powers ; " but in nine cases out of ten the

12 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

highly intelligent Homer is kept for the direct
object of making money.

Others keep birds not to breed, but to barter.
They buy birds as a speculator buys shares,
meaning to sell again at a profit as soon as
occasion offers. These are Pigeon - dealers.
Although one or two dealers I could name
know more about Pigeons than a tram-car full
of amateurs ; neither are these genuine Fanciers.
What John Hill Burton in his delightful volume,
" The Bookhunter," says concerning books, I say
of Pigeons — " The mercenary spirit must not be
admitted to a share in the enjoyments of the
Bookhunter. If the Bookhunter allows money-
making to be combined with his pursuit, it
loses its fresh relish, its exhilarating influence,
and becomes the source of wretched cares and
paltry anxieties. . . . No good ever comes of
gentlemen amateurs buying and selling."

With this exception : / can keep all my
books, but I cannot keep all my Pigeons. They
multiply rapidly and overstock my loft. I must
dispose of some. I cannot do what a famous
Book Collector with overstocked shelves did —
keep my treasures under the bed ! So whilst
the wise Fancier gets instruction and pleasure
from his pursuit, there is no reason why he

THE PLEASURE OF THE FANCY. 13

should lose money by it. The amusement may
chance to prove a very fine investment. He
has only to make his mark in the breed he has
taken up, and he will seldom have cause to
grumble at being overstocked. Mr. W. B.
Tegetmeier, a Dragon -Fancier, never paid a
higher price than ?s. 6d. for a bird, yet he has
bred birds and sold them for as much as £2$
each.

14

CHAPTER II.
THE ART OF THE FANCY.

QUAINT Izaak Walton, whose book I dearly
love, described angling as a " perfect art." It
may be so. He adds, " It is an art worthy
the knowledge and practice of a wise man."
Perhaps there is a slight suspicion of egotism
in what the charming old angler here asserts.
Angling is the art of destroying life ; Pigeon-
Fancying is the art of propagating life ; and
therein I -maintain it lifts the crown from off
the brow of angling, and places it upon its own
meek and inoffensive head.

Pigeon-breeding is a consummate art. It
has been tastefully and truly termed the cultiva-
tion of living flowers — the production of living
pictures beautiful in form and rich in colour.
The Fancier is an artist ; and no artist has
attained to perfection in the art. So there is
better than a forlorn hope awaiting the young
aspirants who have a mind to try their hand at

THE ART OF THE FANCY. 15

the Fancy, and win their laurels in the show-
pen. The best bird has yet to be bred.

Lord Lytton says : " Man is so formed for
design by the Great Designer that in his veriest
amusement he still involuntarily seeks an object.
He needs a something definite — a something
that pretends to be practical, in order to rivet
his attention." To impart a real lively zest,
the Fancy sets before us a clearly defined object,
which is to raise an ideal bird. Every Pigeon-
Fancier has an ideal of his own before him, and
so has everybody else for that matter, if life be
worth living. The farmer has his ideal cow ;
the artist an ideal picture he strives to paint ;
the business man has an ideal fortune he labours
to amass ; the preacher an ideal sermon he
aspires to preach. Every young lady pictures
the husband she prefers — kind, devoted, obedient,
rich, docile, distinguished. Young men are
equally shrewd, and can describe accurately the
Angel-wrapt-in-clay they want for a wife — one
who is domesticated as well as ornamental —
one who is clever in the kitchen and accom-
plished in the drawing-room. May he get her :
she is a rara avis.

The object of my leisure is to raise an
ideal bird. I have selected a variety of the

1 6 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

Tumbler, and I intend to introduce to the notice
of the visitors at the Crystal Palace some
November day the choicest bird of its class
they have yet beheld. This is a difficult task
to set out with. It requires an illimitable
supply of patience, perseverance, and prudence
to accomplish it. If the difficulty be surmounted
I am satisfied, for Pigeon- Fancy ing like virtue
is its own reward. Do not forget the three
P's I have named — Patience, Perseverance,
Prudence. You must invoke their aid con-
stantly before producing your perfect specimen.
Pigeon- Fancy ing is somewhat akin to poetry —
men must be born to it. If you do not keenly
relish the hobby, after a few disappointments
you will abandon it. It is not every time the
egg shells break open that a prize comes forth.
There are numerous failures attending your
efforts. But the man with patience eventually
comes off triumphant. The young birds won't
always hatch the paragons you pictured them.
That lively squeaker you rely upon to do good
service next season may thwart your purpose
and die of canker in the meantime. Drink
acquiescently these drops of bitterness in the
Fancier's cup. The nonpareil is coming. It
will be more appreciated when it does come

THE ART OF THE FANCY. 17

through its arrival being delayed. Perhaps
next year the unlikeliest pair in your loft will
throw the peerless beauty you are in quest
of. George Ure, the old and honoured Fancier,
some of whose Pouters sold by auction last
spring at over £30 a-piece, tells us how he
climbed the ladder of fame. He says —

" I have striven for over twenty years and
more to attain a property before I succeeded.
You must make up your mind to grope in the
dark for many years, getting a bird here and
there that may look pretty well, but of which
you know nothing, and therefore cannot tell the
good or bad points most prominent in the strain.
Perhaps you may by and by breed a good-look-
ing bird or two — it would be strange if you did
not — and they may gain a prize under a good
judge. Do not, however, be in too great haste
to call attention to your success by tooting on
your own trumpet, for if the birds are bred in
the haphazard style that I have referred to, you
are sure to experience a backsliding — an un-
pleasant discovery — teaching that you have not
yet reached the desired stage when 'like pro-
duces like ' so frequently as to merit any claim
to the possession of an established strain."

Learn the art of keeping a good bird when

B

1 8 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

you possess it. Do not be bribed by gold to
part with it. Stick to it. I knew a poor man
who, often hard up; would sooner starve than
sell his best birds. I admire him for his loyalty
to his pets. He loves them better than money,
and that is an uncommon characteristic in these
degenerate days, when the only poetry a man
admires he reads in the clatter of his horses'
legs —

Dosn't thou 'ear my 'orse's legs as they canters awaa'y ?
Pro putty, proputty, proputty — that's what I 'ears 'em saa'y ;
Proputty, proputty, proputty — Sam, thou's an ass for thy paai'ns,
Theer's moor sense i' one o' 'is legs nor in all thy braains.

Me an' thy muther, Sammy, 'as bean a talkin' o' thee ;
Thou's been talkin' to muther, an1 she bean a tellin' it me.
Thou'll not marry for munny — thou's sweet upo' parson's lass —
Noa — thou'll marry for luvv — an' we boath on us thinks tha an ass.

Seea'd her to-daay goa by — Saaint's-day — they was ringing the bells.
She's a beauty, thou thinks— an soa is scoors o' gells,
Them as 'as munny an' all — wot's a beauty ? the flower as blaws —
But proputty, proputty sticks, an' proputty, proputty graws.

Walpole said " Every man has his price," but
happily I know an exception to the rule.
Guard your treasures as things too sacred for
commerce. If not, you will never be a success-
ful breeder. George Ure made it a rule never
to sell a bird, whatever the price offered, if he
thought he required it to improve his stock.
Mr. Chapman, the famous Almond Tumbler

THE ART OF THE FANCY. 19

Fancier, adhered rigidly to the same rule.
And if, after protracted chaffering, he did dis-
possess himself of a choice specimen to en-
rich the stud of a brother of the craft, he ex-
plained himself naively to a friend of mine,
"You see, I have a better bird behind it now."
So the purchaser never got what he coveted —
Chapman's best bird. He parted with a good
bird only when he had bred a better one.

Having spoken on the Art, the Artist also
demands our attention. The Pigeon-Fancier is
essentially a man of quiet, contemplative mind,
for his work demands the constant action of
thought, and the love of it compels the effort.
Add to this the habits which one must fall into
in being with the birds, the enforced calmness
and gentleness, without which the best efforts
are lost. Absorbed in his innocent pursuit, he
dwells apart from the world of struggles and
scandals, nor has he time to encourage the
fungus growth of envy or malice in his own
heart. Thus your artist in living pictures gene-
rally develops into a harmless member of so-
ciety, living a gentle and kindly-mannered life.
Mr. Ure says, " In the whole of my experience
I never knew an instance of a real Fancier being
a degraded or an immoral man."

20 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

The Fancier is apt to be a vain man (I am
impartial — so my censure will accredit my
praise). He is vain of his success. Perhaps he
may even give vent to a little brag on occasion.
" Such and such a bird I bred won First at
Birmingham and Cup at the Palace — it was the
best bird of its variety ever seen." But who
is hurt by his innocent self-assertion ? Nobody.
How very complacently he listens to welcome
praise, and how well he persuades himself that
he is perfectly modest and indifferent to all
vanities — but we know that he is not.

Busying himself from day to day with things
which the " superior person " regards disdain-
fully, the temptations of idleness are withdrawn
from him, and whilst he is riding his hobby he
gathers strength and freshness which enable him
to grapple with the essential labours of life. All
strong men who have moved in the world have
had their hobbies. The great Earl Chatham,
when weary of the Parliamentary hurly-burly,
would retire to his gardens and woods at Hayes,
and he was content to potter about among his
roses all day long. Gladstone, great at work
and great at play, mounts three hobbies. In
London he hunts after old china ; he is delighted
as a school-boy with a new bat when a rare

THE ART OF THE FANCY. 21

piece of " old blue " comes in his road. In the
country he is an amateur woodman. He also
has a " weakness" for Homer, and the minute
problems connected with the style of the original
blind bard. Metternich, the Austrian statesman,
amused himself by keeping canaries, and he was
as proud of his birds as he was of his most
astute diplomatic feats. Cardinal Mazarin was
great at jumping. Count Moltke is a chess-
player and novel reader. Ruskin collects min-
erals and jewels, and he has now a set worth
£30,000, on which he prides himself more than
he does on the Stones of Venice — the original
MS. of which work he presented to a friend as
"the memento of a wasted youth."

The Fancier's life is a long succession of ex-
pectations and fulfilments, and even when he
meets with a disappointment, the change only
gives a certain piquancy to his success. Let us
imagine the awful case of a man beaten at a
show, and let us shed a sympathetic tear ! He
has bestowed his keenest attention and fondest
hopes on a certain young bird. He has watched
its development from the nest. Look at its
breadth of skull ! What a magnificent stop it
has ! How beautifully the feathers are broken !
He is sure that its good points must captivate

22 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the eye of the sternest judge. Alack-a-day, some
insignificant rival beats him, and the world for
an hour seems wholly a desolate place, a drear
wilderness. It may be the unfortunate exhibitor
would like to throw a few show pens at the win-
ning rival. But in the ordinary run he ends by
bestowing honest admiration on the victor, and
sets to work with a view to meeting better luck
next time.

The Fancier is usually a generous man, and
is very partial to setting up young beginners
with a few birds. He is proverbially a long-
lived man. His Fancy agrees with him. His
habits are conducive to longevity — he generally
dips well into the Seventies.

" What if his life's bloomy flush is lost,
And his full autumn feels the mellowing frost?
Yet time, who blowed the rose of youth away,
Has left the vigorous stem without decay."

The Fancier is, par excellence, an enthusiast.
Enthusiasm is the secret of success. It blinds
him to the criticisms of the " superior persons "
— these human beings are the bete noir of weak-
minded fanciers — and it makes him alive to the
object he is working at, and fills him not with
the desire only, but with the determination to do
well the thing to which he has put his hand.

CHAPTER III.

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY.

THERE is an opinion abroad that Pigeons are
" low." It would be unkind to question the
sanity of those persons who thus asperse the
respectability of the birds ; it is more humane to
pity their ignorance. Would it be presumptuous
of us to challenge them to quote an authority
supporting the terrible denunciation that Pigeons
are " low ? " In genteel society this verdict
immediately extinguishes a thing. Punch re-
lates that a Belgravian mamma corrected her
son with the crushing remonstrance, " It's worse
than wicked, my dear, it's vulgar.'' I protest
against the rude behaviour of the ignorant
classes throwing dirt on the beautiful plumage
of the inoffensive bird. The mischief done is
perfectly harmless. It is mud ; it will brush off
when dry.

Are Pigeons "low" because poor people keep

24 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

them ? Many poor people are Fanciers : I am
pleased to accentuate the fact. The reason lies in
a nutshell. It is because Pigeons are an amuse-
ment not too expensive for their shallow purse
to maintain. A rich man gives £260 for an
orchid or £1500 for an engraving to gratify his
elegant taste. The Patissier Francais recently
sold for £600, and is a wretchedly printed little
cookery-book of the Elzevirs ; it is not worth
a bundle of straw, for it is neither of use nor
ornament. While the Psalmorum Codex, a
rare book, was ransomed at the princely figure
of ^"4950. The poor man cannot compete in
this aristocratic domain of lavish expenditure.
Yet he has a desire to excel in something.
Here is a hobby in which he can meet all comers
on equal footing — he can cultivate rare and
exquisite birds. Does this render the birds
low ? Or, rather, is it not an exalting and
ennobling trait in the poor man's character that
he has the wit to appreciate a beautiful natural
object.

Do you accuse a man of " low " taste because
he loves flowers ? The Spitalfield weavers
reared tulips as well as pigeons. Their hobby
was the one refining feature in their hard, busy,
colourless lives. A flower and a bird, two of

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 25

the most beautiful objects in nature ; and to love
either is to be made better by so loving, and it
is only obeying the command of the Great
Teacher who said, " Consider the birds of the
air and the flowers of the field."

Surely a bird ranks higher in the scale of
creation than a flower ! Some natures being
more sensitive and sympathetic ask larger return
than a flower can give ; a bird meets the require-
ment. To crown the enjoyment of our leisure
hours "we crave for an eye that can meet us,
a pet that will welcome our approach, and show
that our regular visit is a joy to both. If only
the beautiful flower upon which we lavish so
much time, thought, and money to produce, if
it could only turn round at our coming, if it
could acknowledge gratefully the refreshing
shower we bestow upon it, if it could meet
glance with glance to show us that it shared
the joy of every meeting, if, we say, a flower
could do all this, then it would answer in nearly
all respects to a fancy pigeon." *

Some men — men of vitiated tastes and sordid
hearts — smile with dull superiority at teachings
drawn from such unpractical, such uncommercial
things as flowers and birds. Their chief view

* Fulton's Book of Pigeons.

26 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

of Pigeons are things to be slaughtered at Hur-
lingham ; and as for flowers, they are just pretty
enough to decorate a groaning banquet-table or
a stuffy ballroom ; and thus they realise for us
the truth of the curse that a land which practi-
cally becomes to men a land without birds and
without flowers becomes also a land without
prayers, without angels, without songs — a dull,
dead waste of business, of selfishness, mammon-
worship, and lust.

Pigeons are the most honourable birds ; the
Fancy boasts an ancient and illustrious descent.
They are the favourites of Holy Scripture. Izaac
Walton, bubbling over with enthusiasm, traces
the origin of his pet pastime to the joyous days of
the world's grey dawn — " Seth, the son of Adam,
taught it to his sons, and that by them it was
derived to posterity." I know of no historic
document extant proving our " Fancy " to be
as venerable as this. We are fairly beaten on
this count. There is but one thing in existence
rivalling the patriarchal age of the art of angling.
I refer to a certain picture by an old master
comprising the portraits of Adam and Eve. The
oldest son of Methuselah is the reputed artist.
It was painted from life before the angel drove
our primal parents out of Paradise and locked

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 27

the door in their face. It was found amongst
the ruins of the Tower of Babel by an enter-
prising excursionist, who travelled in one of
Cook's personally-conducted parties. Accord-
ing to tradition, this picture hung in Mrs. Noah's
boudoir when the patriarch took his spouse and
family a forty days' cruise round the globe. The
remainder of the history attached to this precious
treasure is shrouded in obscurity. However, this
much is quite sufficient to set a friend of mine
itching to buy it. If with solemn countenance
you could rehearse to him the pedigree, he would
rise greedily to the bait. You hook your inno-
cent by the nose and make him come down
heavily to possess the ancient miracle of art.
He has a mania for old masters. If curiosity
hunters squandered ^17,5°° °n three small and
useless articles of furniture from the Hamilton
Palace collection because they once were the
property of Marie Antoinette, what would they
not pay for a feather out of the angel Gabriel's
wing, the apron of fig-leaves that Adam sewed
together in Eden, the bullet that killed Presi-
dent Garfield, the hemp rope that Marwood, late
Crown Officer, used whilst conducting his pro-
fessional engagements ! Fashionable taste is ridi-
culous. It worships the stupid and the sense-

28 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

less. It converts ugliness into a virtue, sets a
premium on inutility, and patronises the absurd.
An Almond Tumbler clothed in its gorgeous
apparel is worth a sackful of old china teapots
and cracked dishes. The whole collection of
gimcracks that crowd the cabinet of a fashionable
drawing-room would not redeem the imperial
creature from my loft.

Now concerning the pedigree. It starts at the
Deluge. It was a pigeon that brought the good
news to Noah of waters assuaged. On its re-
turn from a fly round, it alighted on Noah's hand,
and he brought it into the ark. That bird, no
doubt, was a family pet. (Dove and pigeon are
synonymous : dove is Anglo-Saxon, pigeon is
Norman.) The Psalmist frequently introduces
the dove as an ornament into his sacred poetry.
He sighs for the wings of a dove that he might
fly away and be at rest. He also reminds
his countrymen in picturesque imagery of their
national ups and downs : " Though ye have lien
among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings
of a dove covered with silver and her feathers
with yellow gold." Royal Solomon, his son, is
equally partial to the pigeon in his " Song,"
whilst the prophetic writers continue to give it
prominence. Isaiah inquires, "Who are these

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 29

that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their
windows ? "

There must have been tame Pigeons in early
times, and some of these old Hebrew Bards were
Pigeon-Fanciers. By the style of their lan-
guage you can tell they were acquainted with
pigeon instincts and habits. Sitting on their
housetops at sundown they loved to watch the
birds sporting in the air. In the East, about
sunset, pigeons emerge from their hiding-places,
where they have been sheltering and sleeping
through the heat of the day. They dart upward
and career through the air in large circles, their
outspread wings catching the warm glow of the
sun's slanting rays so that they resemble bur-
nished gold ; wheeling round, they are seen
against the light, and appear as if turned into
molten silver. Most of the Oriental birds are
pure white, or very light coloured.

I need not refer to their place in the Sacri-
ficial Law. In all probability, when the Mother
of Jesus visited the Temple carrying the Divine
Child in her arms, two young pigeons were
sacrificed on the occasion. At the Saviour's
baptism in Jordan, the heavens were opened and
the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like
a dove upon Him ; and throughout the long

THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

reach of Christian Art, from the earliest times
to the present day, the dove retains its place
as the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The evil
spirit invariably is represented under the image
of the serpent.

Being the symbol of the Holy Spirit, it was
not unnatural that Art should also adopt the
dove as an image of the in-
visible spirit of man — the
soul. In the two following
illustrations we have examples
of it.

The above represents the
death of a martyr who is
kneeling before his execu-
tioner, and the liberated spirit is taking flight
in the form of a dove. Below, the soul in the

shape of a dove appears to be entering into,
rather than departing from, the body.

Both these sketches are from MSS. of the
fourteenth century in the British Museum.

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 31

Over 2OOO years ago the " honey-tongued
Anacreon sung the praises of the Carrier
Pigeon — giving it a poem all to itself. Ana-
creon was a rare specimen of human nature.
Polycrates, the ruler of Samos, presented him
with the large sum of five talents. He spent
two wakeful nights thinking of his money, and
then returned it to the giver, saying that it " was
not worth the care it cost him." The Romans
were ardent Pigeon- Fanciers. Pliny says of his
countrymen : " Many are mad with the Jove of
these birds ; they build towers for them on the
tops of their roofs, and will relate the high breed-
ing and ancestry of each. Axius, a Roman
knight, sold a single pair of pigeons for 400
denarii, or nearly £13 modern currency.

In India pigeons were alway highly esteemed.
Akber Khan, about the year 1600, was an in-
veterate and extravagant fancier — never less than
20,000 were taken with the court. The mon-
archs of Iran and Turan sent him some very rare
birds; "and," continues the same courtly historian,
" his majesty by crossing the breeds, which prac-
tice was never practised before, has improved them
astonishingly." The native rulers in India still
remain faithful to the old Fancy of their fathers.
Mr. Lyell says : " I have seen the pigeonries of

32 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the King of Oude, who is probably owner of the
greatest number of choice pigeons in the world,
his stock numbering thousands." Affection for
animals is innate in the Oriental nature ; this
probably^s owing in a great measure to the re-
ligious ideas prevalent with them. Mahomet
in the Koran tells his followers : " There is no
kind of beast on earth, nor fowl that flieth
with its wings, but the same is a person like
unto you : then unto their Lord shall they
return."

The Oriental, thus instructed to regard animals
as his fellow-creatures, and as going on like him-
self to an immortal destiny, naturally treats them
with respect and with some share of courtesy and
benevolence which he manifests for the beings
of his own species. The effect of such a system
after many years is remarkable. Creatures which
in our country fly from man with habitual terror
readily enter into his society in the East. I
have often in Syria, says Lamartine, seen birds
caught in the morning by the children, and per-
fectly tame in the evening, having need neither
of cage nor string to retain them with the family
that had adopted them, but fluttering freely among
the oranges and mulberry trees of the garden ;
coming when called, and perching of their own

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 33

accord on the children's fingers or heads of the
young girls.

We learn from " The History of Hainaut,"
by Jacques de Guyse, who lived in the fourteenth
century, that on the coronation of King Arthur
of England four kings walked before him, each
holding a sword of gold ; whilst before the Queen
walked four more kings, each carrying a white
Pigeon, "according to custom." A similar custom
prevailed in France. During the coronation of
the French kings in the cathedral of Rheims a
number of white Pigeons were liberated within
the sacred fane. This custom continued down
to the coronation of Charles X. White birds
were esteemed a happy omen.

The semi-savage Hungarians of the tenth cen-
tury dreaded Pigeons, as the following interesting
story shows : — A band of these barbarous war-
riors, intent on plunder, approached the Abbey of
Lobbes. The monks shut themselves up with
the villagers in the Church of St. Mary, which
they fortified, resolving to defend themselves
valiantly. Vain efforts ! The besieged were
overwhelmed by numbers, and had already began
to embrace, having no other hope before them
than death or captivity, when all at once by
some special grace of the Divine goodness two

c

34 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

pigeons came out of .the church and flew three
times round the Hungarian forces. A heavy
shower which fell at the same instant relaxed
their bowstrings, and prevented the barbarians
from accomplishing their ferocious purpose. Panic-
struck, they fled with such haste that the chiefs
had to use their whips on those who still sought
to continue the conflict.

Concerning the pedigree in England, Spital-
fields is the cradle of the Fancy. Instigated
by the royal tigress Catherine de Medici, at
night, on the 24th of August 1572, commenced
the dark tragedy of St. Bartholomew in the
streets of Paris. The leaders, the Dukes of
Guise, Nevers, and Montpensier, riding fiercely
from street to street like demons of the storm,
roused the passions of the populace into frenzy
by their cries, " Kill, kill ! Blood-letting is good
in August. By the King's command. Death to
the Huguenot ! Kill ! " Sixty thousand trained
hands did their bloody bidding. The populace,
playing the afterpart of jackals on a battlefield,
prowled on the track of slaughter, robbing and
mutilating the corpses in vile derision. For
seven long days Paris was a scene of pillage
and murder. The roads became almost impas-
sable from the multitudinous corpses of men,

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 35

women, and children — a new and ghastly barri-
cade. What was done in Paris was repeated in
the provinces, till over 100,000 Protestants are
supposed to have perished by the sword. The
numbers butchered are computed, the numbers
that sought safety in flight are uncounted.
Thousands sought refuge in London alone.
Those who had been engaged in the fabrica-
tions of silks resorted to Spitalfields. . It is freely
admitted that the refugee-artisans were amongst
the bravest, the most loyal, and the most indus-
trious in the kingdom they quitted, and con-
tributed much by their knowledge and skill to
improve the manufacture in England. In the
middle of the last century we find the numerous
community resident in Spitalfields had brought
the silk manufacture of England to so great
perfection as to equal the finest productions of
any foreign nation, thereby showing the daily
occupation of these people called forth efforts of
no mean order in carrying out their handicraft.
In 1773 an Act was passed giving them a book
of prices for their work on a very liberal scale,
which enabled them to live in a comfortable con-
dition. They maintained the book of prices for
fifty years, during which time they were very
prosperous.

36 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

The working out of beautiful designs in silk
depended entirely upon the skill of the weaver.
The nature of the employment required means of
relaxation, as the brain as well as the hand was
sorely taxed in preparing the looms for new
patterns, together with the monotony of the
occupation confining them in the house all day,
produced a desire for some hobby as a set off.
Whatever they undertook by way of recreation
they carried out well. Their gardens were kept
in the most exact order ; the beds of tulips and
ranunculus were simply perfection. Their stock
of bulbs, being highly cultivated, and handed
down from father to son, increasing in value
each generation, were preserved with most scru-
pulous care. Pigeons also were their hobby.
Their birds were a source of perennial delight.
Being always at home they were enabled to pay
much attention to them, and were very success-
ful in the culture. Not being in needy circum-
stances, they were able to keep the rare specimens,
thereby arriving at great perfection. As an in-
stance of the interest taken in the Fancy, at that
time there was scarcely a tavern in the district
but had fixed round the public room pens for
Pouters ; these birds being always on show
during the winter months. Whilst these people

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 37

had good wages there was general prosperity ;
but, unfortunately for them, in the year 1824
they lost their book of prices, home and foreign
competition soon reduced wages, and away went
the tulips and the pigeons to the highest bidder,
and the culture of high-class birds began to de-
cline among the weavers, and gave opportunity
to the gentlemen of the Fancy to obtain rare
specimens from those who, but for altered cir-
cumstances, would not have parted.

Amongst the readiest to embrace the advan-
tages thus offered of obtaining the choicest birds
were the canny Scotch Fanciers. Mr. Huie,
many years ago, when on his journeys in Eng-
land, was always on the look-out for something
good. In London he visited among the Spital-
field weavers, and " seldom," relates Mr. Ure,
" returned home to Dundee without bringing or
sending some rare specimens — mostly Pouters
and Shortfaces." The Scotch pouter fancy of
to-day is built almost entirely out of the scat-
tered and ruined lofts of the Spitalfield weavers.

In England to-day Pigeon-fanciers are multi-
tudinous, and their numbers, drawn from all
classes of society, are constantly augmenting.
These facts can be tested by considering the
rapid increase in the number of Annual Shows

38 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

that are held all over the country, and by con-
sulting the show catalogues describing the vast
assemblages of birds that are brought together,
supplying in each instance the owner's name.
The first public Show held in England was at the
Baker Street Bazaar in 1852, under the patronage
of Prince Albert. At the head of the Fancy ranks
Her Majesty Queen Victoria, whom I have been
informed has a splendid collection of birds. Mr.
Fulton has had the honour of supplying Her
Majesty, and the account of the first transaction
no words better than Mr. Fulton's own can de-
scribe. The birds that exchanged hands on
this occasion were a pair of red Jacobins : —

" I had an application from a Mr. Tait, the
address and letter being in a most beautiful hand-
writing. The place I took to be Shaw Fame. I
replied, stating the price. The answer came to
send on the birds. I replied that my terms to
strangers were post-office order or cheque, pay-
able in eight days. The answer duly came, but
this time with the heading of the paper repre-
senting the stamp of Royalty, and upon seeing
the cheque enclosed, and reading the letter, I
found I had refused sending birds on approval to
our Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of England !

" Oh ! to Jacobin fanciers, I need not tell how

THE GUILDHALL, LONDON.
(From a Painting by Arthur W. Allen.)

THE PEDIGREE OF THE FANCY. 39

I felt I was a gone coon. I had to sit down and
ask the missus for a wee drap of the cratur to
sustain me. But the further perusal of the letter
gave me to understand that I had given no offence
in refusing to send the birds before receiving
the money ; also, that my terms were perfectly
straightforward, and that I would doubtless be
pleased at having the honour of supplying pigeons
to the Queen of England. I need not add I felt
myself a fool that day. Of course the address
was the cause of the blunder I made, which ad-
dress was intended to read Shaw Farm ; and,
moreover, there was no mention in the first letter
who the pigeons were for."

It is gratifying to see that the citizens of Lon-
don, following the example of the Venetians,
are manifesting a growing fondness for Pigeons.
Small flocks of motley-coloured birds congregate
and breed undisturbed in the heart of the great
metropolis. Hovering around our public build-
ings, nestling in the intricacies of the architecture,
they form a beautiful adornment to our money-
making city these comely pensioners on the public
bounty. I have seen men of the careworn face
and restless eye pause in the courtyard of Guild-
hall and watch them. Their anxious features
relax into a smile ; they become interested and

40 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

amused at the docility and dignity of the birds,
whose composure in the midst of a throng of
pedestrians is exquisite. They are not scared
at the rush of a reckless cab, or the loud yell of
a telegraph boy. The courtyard is their right-
ful territory, and nothing less than the terror of
immediate extinction from an uplifted foot, or
revolving cart wheel, puts them on the wing.

CHAPTER IV.
THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER.

EARLY in life I developed a taste for " keeping "
things. I kept foreign postage stamps. I kept
rabbits, goats, and canaries. I kept a revolver,
with which I shot cats and zinc chimney-pots.
My father owning most of the zinc chimney-pots
within circuit of our shooting excursions, on
principle objected to our Cockney sportsmanship
(a companion shot with me — an apprentice of
my father's, an old ally and school chum of mine).
He thought we might find rational amusement
more suitable to young gentlemen than perforat-
ing zinc chimney-pots and frightening peaceable
and well-paying tenants. He did not heed the
perforated cats — they were not his property.
We sold the revolver, and bought pigeons at
Club Row.

Oh the feast of feather, form, and beauty
displayed in that dilapidated old thoroughfare

42 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

twenty years ago. A halo of romance perti-
naciously clings to the first visit paid to Pigeon-
dom in our happy halcyon days. I often look
back with amusement upon the pleasant scene.
A pale, eager youth — brimful of joy, tremulous
with hope, enthusiastic in a new hobby, scan-
ning the contents of shop windows, peeping
surreptitiously through half open shop-doors- —
wandering up and down like a lost dog in a fair
— too timid to walk boldly in and roundly
state my wants. Eventually all of a tremble I
descended into old Crawley's den, and bought a
pair of Baldheads, for which I gave 33. 6d.

I started out that morning without any prior
attachment influencing my choice. I wanted
Pigeons. All breeds were equally pretty to me,
because I was profoundly ignorant of them all.
I threw the handkerchief at the bird I most
admired on the spot. The Baldhead was my
first love, and it has never since been deposed
from the place of preference it then won in my
heart. Club Row a quarter of a century since
was in the full flower of its glory as the centre
of the pigeon traffic. Modern street improve-
ments have demolished half the thoroughfare,
whilst the rise of multitudinous Pigeon-clubs has
completed the work of ruin, for most of the

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 43

buying and selling that used to be done in shops
is now transacted privately in the club-rooms.
Sic transit gloria mundi.

Exultantly I hurried home and deposited my
pigeons in a shed previously prepared for their
reception in the garden. I felt up in the air
for several days afterward, and spent every spare
moment I had in company with my Baldheads,
watching their merry movements and manners.
I soon came to the conclusion that a single pair
looked cold and comfortless by themselves, and
resolved to possess a pair of every colour —
black, red, yellow, blue. After repeated visits
to Club Row I. brought my stud up to the
standard of completion. There was now in-
creased flutter and animation and merriment in
the old shed. Oh the hours I lingered there,
deliciously unconscious of everything but the
present moment !

I soon learnt that there were birds and birds ;
and that mine fell woefully below the standard
of perfection. Light dawned gradually, and
thus the mystery of " points " was disclosed to
me. Pearl eye, clean thigh, clean cut, ten a
side were items to be reckoned with. Hereto-
fore ignorance was bliss, now knowledge became
exasperating. I weeded out the defective birds,

44 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

replacing them with better specimens. It was
hard to part with those early purchases. It felt
like betraying old friends to sell them. There
was no alternative. I was awake : the dream
of their beauty had vanished from me. I saw
a bull-eye was ugliness, and a dirty thigh an
abomination to be got rid of. The first pair of
eggs laid transported me into the wonderland of
mystery and delight. I handled them cautiously
every time I entered the shed. How I teased the
setting birds by my inquisitive intrusion upon the
privacy of their domestic duties. They charged
me fiercely with beak and wing. I was too
curious to be denied. Impatiently I waited for
those eggs to transform themselves into pigeons
— they did hatch with all my meddling. It
seemed the only object I had to live for at the
time. At last the young ones broke out of their
house of bondage, and introduced themselves as
large as life into the world of living creatures.
I was enraptured — it was the first natural in-
crease of my stock. The old shed soon became
too strait.

My father had silently and complacently
watched the new hobby — it succeeded admirably
from his point of view : it kept me at home in
the evening, and away from the contamination

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 45

of evil companions. I asked him to build me a
larger place. After undergoing a mild course of
intermittent coaxing and teasing he consented.
A vast and aristocratic brick structure, 10 feet by
6 feet, quickly arose on the site of the ancient
wooden shed, supplemented by ample outer
aviaries formed of wire-netting. How the birds
did enjoy their new quarters ! They had more
light, more liberty, more playground, and I en-
joyed it as much as they did. I fixed the nests
and perches, and did the whole of the carpenter-
ing myself, and entered into no other amusement
until I could pronounce the job to be done in a
good and workmanlike manner.

My father, with smiling countenance, fre-
quently dropped in to inspect progress as a sort
of clerk of the works, and offer gratuitous sug-
gestions. But he was uninitiated — he knew
npt the four points of a Baldhead ; what could
he understand about the construction of a pigeon-
house ? Occasionally he brought a pair of birds
home for a present. I did not inquire the cost
of them. He was kind. I loved him for it, and
thankfully accepted his gifts. Yes, I have much
to thank him for; he did much to keep me
straight in life. Besides encouraging me in
pigeon - keeping, he diplomatically executed

46 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

another skilful manoeuvre, by which he adroitly
turned the wayward tendencies of his son. We
were playing a round game at cards at an even-
ing party. I enjoyed the game — cards were
new to me. I never saw them at home — they
savoured too much of the world, the flesh, and
the devil. When the game was finished my
father rose and said it was time to go home.
" I'll stay a little longer," I replied, " and play
another game." "You had better come now,"
he said ; " if you want to play cards, play with
me at home." We left together. I was per-
fectly good-humoured : the suggestion pleased
me. My father bought a pack of cards and
taught me to play, and many and many a merry
winter's night we two spent with the cribbage-
board between us, and my mother looking on.
The passion for cards soon abated ; I played in
good company, and had plenty of fun, without
the accursed adjuncts of drinking and gambling.
With my establishment in full swing another
ambition burned in my breast — I must have a
pair of shortfaced birds. So, together with my
friend, I visited an old Fancier resident at Bow ;
we each purchased of him a pair of almond-bred
birds, Chapman strain. My poor plebeian Bald-
h<*ads doubtless felt degraded by this intro-

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 47

duction of blue-blood into their midst — from
henceforth they became wet nurses to the patri-
cian Almonds. They performed their humiliating
duties faithfully and affectionately. My friend
soon grew tired of his hobby, and disposed of
his stock by tucking his Baldheads under pie-
crust and selling his Shortfaces to me. I often
wonder what has become of that cherished youth
and boon companion of mine, for he quickly
afterwards dropped out of my ken. I love to
think of the friends of my boyhood — they are
my real friends still. I talk with them and walk
with them as of yore, and the best of it is we do
not quarrel with one another now as we used to
do then. How we swore eternal friendships in
those roseate, mirthful, thoughtless days of old ;
and, when parting, promised to write each other
with the unerring constancy of juvenile lovers.
We proved horridly faithless to our vows, and
neglected correspondence. Perhaps it is unwise
to renew it in the present. For aught I know
to the contrary, that cherished youth may be in
debt now, and need the loan of a few pounds to
emancipate him from the fetters of pecuniary
thraldom. He may be in a chronic state of feud
with his wife, would make a confidant of me,
and entangle me in the meshes of a domestic

48 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

broil. Or he may have become itinerant agent
for the Royal Bubble Insurance Company, and
would inveigle me into insuring my life in his
office. Under such equivocal possibilities as
these, I deem it best to let sleeping dogs lie. I
leave the idols of the playground alone, and am
content to revel on in the same hazy, happy
manner, and enjoy their society as the idols of
the imagination.

For some years after this the Fancy flourished
joyously, till the denizens of the aviary num-
bered fifty. Eventually I began to waver in
my attachment to the birds. I did not visit
them as frequently as I had previously accus-
tomed myself to do. In a word the spell was
broken, and in a rash moment I conceived the
base idea of parting with my pets. In the im-
petuosity of youth I sold them for an "old
song."

Do you ask the cause of this false and trea-
cherous conduct of mine ? Ah, me ! there is a
woman at the bottom of it, as the man said when
his wife fell in the well. I was in love, and oc-
cupied with the ethereal delights of courtship; and
whilst living in the purple light of love's young
dream I was oblivious to every other thing of a
mundane character. I centred my thoughts, spent

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 49

my time, and lavished my caresses upon the
object of my adoration. My excessive ardour
was not uncalled for. There was a rival in the
field competing with me for the fair and comely
prize of a beautiful wife. His devotion was
excessively romantic — it would constrain him to
call at the young lady's house in the early
morning prior to the visit of the sonorous milk-
man, and leave a bouquet for the adornment of
her breakfast-table — a little delicately scented
note being just visible in the midst of the
fragrant assemblage of flowers, which, when
withdrawn from its dainty retreat and opened,
revealed in delicately turned verse the passion
that inflamed the donor's breast.

He who wins can afford to be magnanimous.
I won. I bore no after- malice toward my rival
for these honourable and ingenuous attempts to
supplant me in my lady-love's affection.

After two or three years of happy married
life a longing, in a mild form, returned to own
a pair of my feathered favourites. I erected
a small wooden shed in the garden, and put
several pairs of Baldheads in it — unfortunately
they were soon out of it. One Sunday morning
going to feed them I found the door open, and
on closer inspection discovered the place vacant,

D

So THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

except a pair or two of stone-cold eggs here
and there in deserted nest-pans. The broker
surely had not entered the premises during my
absence and evicted the tenants, they having
failed to pay taxes when due. Emerson says
of the monkey : " They combed his mane, they
pared his nails, cut off his tail, set him on end,
sent him to school, and made him pay taxes."
Why should the tax-collector draw a line at
apes ? This was not the embarrassment with
my pigeons — they had been stolen during the
night. I did not despair. I wore a light heart
during the Sabbath. Early on Monday morning
I searched Club Row and purlieus, and re-
captured the stolen treasures with the exception
of one pair.

After this caution I brought them indoors,
and wired off a portion of a large storehouse on
the ground floor, in which I lodged the birds.
This arrangement did not work satisfactorily all
round. The birds liked it — I liked it, but the
household, after brief acquaintanceship with the
new inmates of the storeroom, protested indig-
nantly against their society. The "horrid
noise " of their cooing, which is sweetest music
to the Fancier's ears, grated discordantly on
theirs, and the pungent odour which in warm

ST. MARK'S SQUARE, VENICE.

(From a Drawing by Arthur W. Allen.)

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 51

weather travelled through the perforated panels
of the storeroom door, and wandered capri-
ciously upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's
chamber, brought matters to a hurried crisis.
The birds were voted an unmitigated nuisance
in the house. I pleaded their cause, but my elo-
quence was wasted sweetness on the desert air.
I clung loyally and tenaciously to them whilst a
shred of hope remained. I was ingloriously
and overwhelmingly beaten. Their doom was
sealed. I disposed of my stock a second time.

For several years after this I did not ride my
hobby, although I often wished myself up in the
stirrups. I frequently walked a considerable
distance out of my way to pass a pigeon-shop —
an infirmity of which I am not yet thoroughly
cured. Much time was spent during these years
in foreign travel, which disturbed the continuity
of home life, and rendered the keeping of birds an
impossibility. It was not till one May morning
four years ago, standing in the Square of St.
Mark, Venice, surrounded by a contingent of the
enormous colony of Pigeons established there,
that the desire reasserted itself in a masterful
manner. I resolved to recommence in the Fancy.
During the remainder of our stay at Venice, when
possible, I gladly renounced doing the picture-

52 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

galleries and churches, and all the sublime attrac-
tions of gondoleering adown the grand canal paled
before the choice delight of spending a quiet hour
in the sunshine of St. Mark Square mobbed by a
multitude of pigeons.

These birds, as all the world knows, are mar-
vellously tame ; but some of my readers may
not know that they have been settled in the
city ever since 877. After the religious services
on Palm Sunday, it was anciently the custom of
the sacristans of St. Mark's to release doves fet-
tered with fragments of paper, and thus partly
disabled from flight, for the people to scramble
for in the square. The birds caught were fat-
tened and eaten at Easter, but those pigeons
which escaped took refuge in the roof of the
church, where they gradually assumed a sacred-
ness of character and increased to enormous
numbers. Formerly they were fed by the Re-
public, but now they flourish on a bequest left
by a pious lady for their maintenance and on
the largess of grain bestowed by strangers.
Small bags of " feed " are sold on the Square.
And as soon as the birds see a stranger with
a bag in his hand, they instantly swoop down
upon him and take forcible possession of the
proffered repast.

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 53

On returning home I erected a strong building
of wood and iron. It is constructed of two thick-
nesses of wood sandwiched with double sheet-iron,
the whole knit compactly together with stout flat
bar-iron inside and out, tied with nuts and bolts.
The place looks like a small fortress. With
several locks, and the addition of an electric bell,
I trust it is thief-proof. I know —

1 ' The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley."

Having done all I can to tielp myself, the matter
is passed up into the hands of a kind protecting
Providence, and I rest peacefully.

My place was soon alive with Baldheads —
longfaced birds, of course — and very coarse indeed
they were to one whose eye was familiar with
the Almond Tumbler. However, they were good
for a start ; the full programme of my ambition
being to raise a stud of choice shortfaced Balds
and Beards. These birds have not had justice
meted out to them by the Fancy. Like Tarn o'
Shanter's nag they have been left out in the cold,
whilst Carriers, Turbits, Jacobins, and Almonds
have been nursed, coddled, and beclubbed — artis-
tically cultured, scientifically bred, and popularly
patronised. My beautiful proteges are slighted — it

54 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

is now quite time they participated in these higher
privileges, and in their turn enjoyed the luxury
of being feted, fondled, and scientifically improved.
But from what quarter to draw my first detach-
ment of shortfaced Balds and Beards I knew not.
I advertised and answered advertisements, but to
no profitable purpose — plenty of rubbish was shot
into my lap from north, south, east, and west, to
be returned with THANKS !

I had heard of a celebrated Woodhouse strain,
but the father of the feathered flock I failed to
unearth, although I searched never so diligently,
Mr. Woodhouse seemed as remote from me as
the evening star, and inquiry brought him no
nearer — whether he was in the body or out of
the body I could not tell — whether he lived before
the flood or after it I could not determine. I
stood in doubt of him, and rashly concluded, like
the flowery isle Atlantis, his existence was a
fable.

At last the oracle spoke. An advertisement
in one of the Fancy journals announced that W.
Woodhouse desired to sell the remainder of his
stock for £4$. I replied in person, and brought
home a half-dozen of the pick of the " remain-
ders." From this casual visit paid to the vener-
able Fancier a cordial feeling sprang up between

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 55

us. Other visits followed ; more birds changed
hands. The visits became a weekly institution,
when much pigeon-lore was discussed in Mr.
Woodhouse's loft, and many secrets of breeding
and rearing were imparted to me.

I was in high feather now. Was I not within
sight of the attainment of my dearly cherished
project — a stud of goodly shortfaced Baldheads ?
My batch of new purchases looked quite stylish
and handsome in my loft, their good qualities
being heightened by contrast — they were in com-
pany of many of their lowly and inferior kindred.
One creamy hen I received into my heart as an
especial favourite ; the delicate tint of her plum-
age and the gracefulness of her deportment quite
captivated me. She was christened " Queen of
the Aviary." Better birds than these I thought
did not exist.

Ah ! it is wonderful how much we have to
learn in life, and how little we know even taken
at our highest point of culture. The young
man who has just passed his B.A. at Cambridge
sells his text- books as waste-paper, and begins
life with a finished education. A finished edu-
cation, forsooth ! Education is never finished.
If the meagre stock of wisdom the young man
possesses, compared with the vast quantity of

56 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the raw material that lies around him unappro-
priated— if his little stock would boil down to a
solid, you might pack it into a small Gladstone
bag and carry it comfortably with one hand. And
the Railway Company that charges for luggage
according to weight for a few shillings would
frank it across a continent. Michael Angelo,
the prince of painters, at the age of ninety, said,
" Yes, I am still learning to paint." Education
is never finished ; so I find in the great Pigeon
question. The Fancy keeps your intellect on the
alert.

When I brought home that last supply of
birds, I flattered myself my requirements were per-
fected— it put me in good humour. Happy mortal !
I was charged with a buoyancy of spirits that
nothing could discompose. This state of beatific
calm suddenly collapsed. A difficult problem in-
troduced itself upon my mind demanding solution
— " Why are not shortfaced balds and beards as
fine in head and beak qualities as the almond
tumbler ? " That they were inferior I dare not
deny. That there was room for improvement in
them I tardily confessed. The only reply I
could frame, after a course of thought as familiar
as the inside of his pocket to any one who
thinks at all, was, " I suppose they have not been

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. 57

so assiduously cultivated as the Almond ; there-
fore they are inferior to it."

Alas ! alas ! my perfect birds were perfect to
me no longer. My imagination had conceived a
better standard. Having raised my ideal a step
higher I must pursue it. Thus we make step-
ping-stones of our dead selves which lead on to
fortune. After mature reflection I determined
to improve my stock by fusing into it the
Almond blood, and consoled myself by dreaming
the delightful dream of founding a new and
improved strain of Baldheads of my own. Mr.
Gellett, an old Almond Fancier, being a near
neighbour, I unfolded to him my requirement,
and selected from his stud a dun, a red, and a
kite hen suitable to my purpose. Here we
pause. Seeing the case now is what lawyers call
sub judice, we make no further comments upon
it at present. Prudence bids us wait patiently
until Old Judge Time pronounces his verdict
upon it.

CHAPTER V.

THE DUTIES OF A FANCIER.

ONE delightful benefit my Pigeons confer upon
me — they have trained me to become an early
riser in the summer months, for which I am
grateful. To unbolt the door and step out into
the garden at 6.30 is an achievement I am
proud to place to my credit. The air is so fresh
and pure and soft at that early hour, and so full
of the perfume from the flowers, and redolent of
the odours of the bleeding grass upon which
nimble young feet have romped overnight. And
the birds sing and twitter so cheerily in the
trees, and dive swiftly and gracefully through
the air in search of provender, that these en-
gaging sights and sounds peculiar to early
morning are quite exhilarating, and engage my
mind with reverent and happy thoughts whilst
busy in the aviary.

THE DUTIES OF A FANCIER. 59

" Our God, we thank Thee who hast made

The earth so bright,
So full of splendour and of joy,

Beauty and light ;
So many glorious things are here

Noble and right.

"We thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made

Joy to abound ;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds

Circling us round ;
That in the darkest spot of earth

Some love is found.

" We thank Thee more that all our joy

Is touched with pain ;
That shadows fall on brightest hours,

That thorns remain ;
So that earth's bliss may be our guide,

And not our chain.

" We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept

The best in store ;
We have enough, yet not too much,

So long for more ;
A yearning for a deeper peace

Not known before.

" We thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls,

Though amply blest,
Can never find, although they seek,

A perfect rest ;

Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus' breast."

Who would not rise early if they knew the
luxury awaiting them at the banquet of the morn-
ing ! Charles Lamb was an accomplished slug-
gard. Half-past ten he considered the very
earliest hour at which a gentleman of leisure

60 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

should abandon his pillow. The poet Thomson
arose at noon. S. T. Coleridge vanquished both
at this game of gentility, and occasionally could
be found in bed at two o'clock in the afternoon.
Oh that these drowsy dwellers in the Castle of
Indolence had been Pigeon-Fanciers, then would
they have mended their manners, for where
" tumblers, croppers, carriers seize the gentle
mind, they rule."

My first morning exercise is to replenish the
fountain with clean water, and place in a familiar
spot a saucer full of sopped bread with a little
salt sprinkled over it. The birds enjoy this
dainty dish. I give it only in the breeding season.
Immediately I open the door of the loft a number
of them fly to it and commence breakfast without
saying grace. As they each fly out they pass
under my eye, and the accustomed observer can
speedily detect the sign of " going queer." After
cleaning up inside I do a tour of inspection round
the nests ; see that the breeding mothers and
their rising offspring are all right ; if an old
bird is moping at home, instead of joining in
the morning frolic outside, I say, " That bird
is not well," and watch it accordingly. There
are twenty nests in the loft, each one being
two feet square. The fronts of them are half-

THE DUTIES OF A FANCIER. 61

covered with match-lining ; the other half has a
wire door to it, so I can enclose a pair to them-
selves if desirable. I find this arrangement con-
venient. If I unmatch and rematch during the
breeding season, a brief term of imprisonment
assists them to forget the old love and take on
with the new. When I expect a hen to lay her
first egg, I pen the pair till after the second egg
is laid ; this prevents eggs being laid astray.
Returning to the flight (which is paved with
bricks) I sweep it out, and am now ready to throw
down the morning repast, consisting of a mixture
of small grey peas, tares, millet, and canary. In
the midst of these occupations, if the morning be
fine, my little three-year-old daughter comes out
to assist me. Dressed in gipsy hat and white
pinafore she toddles up the garden and greets me
with " Dood morning, papa; I have tome to help
you feed the pretty birds." I cordially accept
her proffered service, which generally consists of
chasing a squeaker till she catches it, and then
sitting down quietly somewhere out of the way
to nurse it. If there is no squeaker about, I
give her a " baby bird " out of a nest.

Permit me here to enter a protest against " hop-
pers." If birds have food always at command they
are apt to eat too much, and too often and irre-

62 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

gularly — grow fat, lazy, and dyspeptic. Worse
still, having no regular meal-times of their own,
they may neglect feeding their young. I do not
like machine-feeding. It takes the poetry out
of the thing. When the birds see me walking
towards, them up the garden they commence flut-
tering and flying about in a pleased expectant
manner. Soon as I enter the flight the old
silver hen flies on my shoulder, and gently pecks
me as much as to say : " Make haste, please, it's
dinner-time ; I am hungry, so are the babies at
home." I think the sight charmingly pretty to
see a mixed multitude of Pigeons of various
colourings grouping themselves at your feet
engaged on the pleasures of the table. An amus-
ing incident or two frequently occurs during
the feed that is worth watching. There is a
cock-bird mightily jealous of his spouse heavy
with egg. He won't eat himself nor allow her
to. The duties of married life demand her pre-
sence at home, so he hustles her about, follow-
ing her up through the crowd — she snatching
at her peril here and there a grain of food. By
dodging in and out amongst the birds she slips
him. On missing her he plunges wildly about,
creating commotion, disturbing every one at table
until the lost is found, when he greets her with a

THE DUTIES OF A FANCIER. 63

vigorous salutation of the beak and lovingly drives
her home. On the fringe of the group is a squeaker
just learning the art of foraging for himself; shyly
he pecks at a stray grain that rolls near him ;
scared at his own temerity he retreats hastily ;
emboldened by hunger he tries again and again
at that grey pea till it is safely landed. Some
fatherly old bird perhaps takes compassion on
him as he squeaks at the wayside begging for
food and fills his crop for him. Feeding by hand
is one of the pleasures of the fancy never to be
abandoned.

After spending an hour and a half with the birds
my employment has sharpened my appetite, given
a relish for breakfast, and I go indoors a hungry
man.

About eleven o'clock I feed them again. By
this time the setting hens are off the nests taking
their morning exercise, and keenly ready for
luncheon. I now put the bath in the flight.
Pigeons are extremely fond of a splash in the
pan. In their eagerness they sometimes crowd
into it en masse. None will give way for
others to bathe first ; they all act the disagree-
able, and remain a solid compact breathing mass
heaped uncomfortably together in the bath until
a quarrel breaks out all round, terminating in a

64 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

general scatter, leaving two or three in posses-
sion to leisurely enjoy their bath.

Three or four o'clock is the hour of evening
meal, which consists of peas, tares, wheat, and
dari. In the winter the wheat and dari are
replaced by rapeseed. About nine o'clock I
look round all the nests and lock up. I peep
in to see that all the squabs are fed for the
night. If I find one with an empty crop I soak
an osborne or milk biscuit to pulp in hot water,
and, by aid of a glass syringe, inject as much of it
into the crop as it will comfortably hold ; and,
if the youngster could speak and had manners
enough, I trow he would thank me for his supper.

65

CHAPTER VI.
A CAUTION TO FANCIERS.

THERE are several things I wish to mention on
which experience has taught me a wrinkle. I
own it a ticklish task to act the part of guide,
counsellor, and friend — especially when you put
what apparently is incredulous on paper — it
makes your " credit stand on such slippery
ground." When I visited the ruins of the
Roman Forum my guide pointed out several
fragments of broken marble beautifully carved,
and said, " This is a portion of the Rostra from
which Marc Antony pronounced his famous
funeral oration over the body of ' sweet ' Caesar."
My enthusiasm quickened upon receiving this com-
munication. I looked at the Rostra with added
interest. I looked about hoping to find a relic
that had belonged to Marc which I could carry
home and show my friends. One is ever on the
look-out for relics in Italy. You can buy plenty

66 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

of them if fool enough to part with your money
for what is not genuine. I searched around the
Rostra for a real relic. Perhaps in the heat of
his oratory Marc dropped his pocket-handker-
chief— his spectacles rolled off his nose — he
might have left his umbrella behind as he hur-
ried off to plot with Octavius. If I could secure
any of these articles my fortune was made at
once. I found nothing, and in the pangs of
my disappointment treated the historic spot as
legendary lore. But had not our guide told
us ? Guides always tell the truth. Guides
are not poets ; they never create the yarns they
spin, or imagine the history they rehearse.
Guides are not novelists ; they never manu-
facture romantic tales and indulge in fiction.
Guides are not artists ; they never draw pic-
tures which are highly-coloured and glazed.
Guides, gentle reader, are men of science —
exact science — grave, sober, prosy men, who
never step out of the realm of clearly ascertained
and established fact. Guides are men of honour
— they never lie, therefore you can rely upon all
the information they impart.

A great quantity of matter, mostly super-
fluous, has been written upon the Diseases of
Pigeons, as though they are birds weakly and

A CAUTION TO FANCIERS. 67

ailing by nature, requiring constantly to be
under the influence of physic to stand upright
on their legs. Experience teaches me to form a
contrary opinion. Pigeons are of healthy and
hardy constitution, and seeing they are not
addicted to the suicidal habit of saturating them-
selves with alcohol, the bulk of their diseases
are conferred upon them gratis by other people's
neglect, carelessness, and ignorance.

To start with, the impression prevails that
any place will do in which to house Pigeons.
Any place will do if you wish them to live weakly
lives and die untimely deaths. If anything is
swiftly destructive to the health of our pets it
is damp and draught — these things encourage
catarrh, croup, and all bronchial complaints.
Cold and heat they equably endure, but damp
and draught are fatal visitors in the loft. Don't
put them in a rickety old shed, through the cracks
and crevices of which the winds whistle, and
through the roof of which the rain percolates
copiously. Make your loft wind and watertight.

At the same time give attention to

VENTILATION.

A besetting sin common to Fanciers is over-
crowding the loft — keeping fifty birds where you

68 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

have accommodation only for thirty. I have
erred on this side, and suffered for my folly.
On a summer morning, after a hot sultry night,
I have opened my loft, stepped into it, and been
nearly poisoned, inhaling the vile, reeking effluvia
that filled the place. I retreated immediately
before the pestilential odour, but the poor birds
unfortunately were in it all night — breathing in
it, sleeping in it, dying in it. I wondered why
the nestlings suffered from ulcerous canker in
the mouth and throat and pined away. I won-
dered why the old ones feeding, fell victims to
the same malignant complaint. How could I
cure them ? I dosed them with sulphur and
epsom salts — washed out their mouths with this
solution and that, and they were nothing better,
but rather grew worse. Life eluded my medical
skill and quackery, and slipped deftly between
my fingers.

After much thought, and blaming the food
and blaming the water for sowing the seeds of
death, it eventually entered into my head that
perhaps the ventilation was defective, and I
ended by blaming myself for not providing ven-
tilation enough. The foul atmosphere soured
the soft food stored in the old birds' crops, and
when they gave it to their young it poisoned

A CA UTION TO FANCIERS. 69

them, and the nestlings in turn poisoned their
parents. I took out a sash and put up iron bars
instead of a glass window. The atmosphere of
the loft improved, canker disappeared, and has
not since returned. So I attribute that visita-
tion of epidemic to lack of ventilation. Perhaps
other forms of disease may be traced to the
same simple origin.

After ventilation comes

CLEANLINESS.

Do not let the droppings accumulate. Re-
move them wholly once a day. If you do not,
vermin will multiply and attack the callow young
in the nest, and suck them dry of blood. If
you find a squab, two or three days old, look-
ing puny and pale and death-coloured instead of
ruddy-hued, the rascally bloodsuckers are at
him hunting the precious life. Give a clean nest-
pan at once. If not kept under, insects storm
the nests in such overwhelming numbers that
the setting birds retreat before them, and re-
luctantly forsake their eggs or young. It is
hard work to expel these predatory rascals when
they are in possession. It is easy to prevent
their visitation by strict adherence to cleanliness.
When squeakers are a fortnight old I give a

70 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

clean nest-pan, and when the nest-pan is done
with, soak it in water and scrub it before putting
it into use again.

Besides nest-insects there is the " pigeon-
louse" — a little pest that dwells among the
plumage of adult birds. These parasites are a
terrible torment when allowed to increase and
multiply unchecked. Many a valuable pigeon is
done to death by them, and the owner does not
know what ails the bird. A gentleman asked me,
" Have you any cure for going light ? " I asked
to see the bird. The poor creature, a beautiful
almond cock, was handed me. Going light !
with a cruel vengeance. But not the disorder
commonly so-called. It was dying of utter
prostration. Insects coursed over its body like
rabbits in a warren, and swarmed it like bees
in a hive. It was populous as a great city. It
had fought for dear life till it could fight no
further, so it gave up the unequal contest and
sank exhausted. While I held the bird num-
bers of vermin crept off to my hand, hurrying
and scurrying over it like pent-up schoolboys
just turned loose for a frolic, or rather like rats
hastening to desert a sinking ship.

The fault is, Fanciers do not closely inspect
their stock frequently enough and observe their

A CAUTION TO FANCIERS. 71

condition. At a distance the birds look clean
and healthy — if one falls mopy, they catch it
and pop a condition pill or other bolus down its
throat, thinking that will set it right. If it
mopes still, bolus follows bolus down the un-
offending throat, producing civil war in the
stomach. By this reckless method of ill-treat-
ment they add insult to injury on the bird.

All insect powders I find impotent. What-
ever you sprinkle on the plumage is soon shaken
off. Ointment is the proper remedy — it clings.
I wished to buy a bird. The owner honourably
said, "I cannot sell it; it is out of sorts.
Come again in a fortnight, and if it is better
you shall have it." I went again. In the
meantime the bird had been kindly put through
a systematic treatment for a complaint it did
not suffer from. It was no better (of course
not) ; I could not have it yet. I inspected it
closely and lifted up its feathers. It was lite-
rally alive with vermin. They might truly in
deafening chorus have cried, " Our name is
Legion, for we are many." I recommended oint-
ment, and in a week when I returned the young
lady was well and coquettish, and I completed
my purchase. The ointment is compounded of

Ib. of blue unction and I oz. of lard. Place

72 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

the two ingredients in a gallipot near the fire
till melted — stir; let it set. It is now ready
for use. By the aid of this ointment my birds
are never troubled with insects. It keeps them
scrupulously clean. Twice a year — in spring
and autumn (oftener if necessary) — I inspect
every bird on the premises. Lift up the feathers
in parts of the body where insects lie snugly at
home and apply the ointment, which is preven-
tion as well as cure. I never admit a new pur-
chase into the loft without its first undergoing
examination, which is generally needful.

Apply the ointment sparingly. Holding the bird
in the left hand, place a piece about the size of
a large grey pea on the tip of the forefinger of
the right hand ; put it on the bird. The heat of
the body melts it. Rub over the affected part as
far as it will spread. A place where insects love
to congregate is under the lower beak. Here
they lay their eggs and dwell at ease, for the
bird cannot molest them. The eggs are attached
to the root of the feathers. They are small,
round, whitish — sometimes half-a-dozen adhere
to one feather. Gradually they multiply and
spread up and up on either side of the head,
round by the ears, and meet on the crown of
the head. When the eggs succeed in complet-

A CAUTION TO FANCIERS. 73

ing a ring round the neck the poor birds have a
bad time of it. Rub the ointment well over,
and in a day or two the nits will be shrivelled
to nothing.

I think MEGRIMS is nothing more nor less than
insects getting mastery of the birds in this pro-
voking manner, attacking the head and inducing
giddiness. I am supported in my theory by a
correspondent of the " Stock Keeper/' who wrote
stating that he had discovered a cure for this
otherwise incurable disease : " I took all the
feathers off the top of the head, kept the bird in
a pen, and within four weeks it was in perfect
health again." Certainly it was, if my theory be
correct. By plucking the feathers off the head,
you remove the nits and insects which cause the
complaint ; and if the bird has not crossed the
invisible boundary line between life and death,
there is nothing left for it but to recover.

Another place where vermin lie in wait upon
their victims is above the vent upwards, on either
side the keel of the breast-bone — also on the
under side of the wing. If the bird be badly
overrun, apply a little ointment each day till the
cure is effected. Dorit use too much of it at a
time, or the remedy may be worse than the disease.
It is an unfailing remedy. No Pigeon- Fancier

74 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

can afford to be without it. It is the great cure-
all. Besides removing insects it cures rotten
feathers, canker, wing disease, eye disease, and
megrims. I cannot sing its praises too eulogis-
tically. It has proved an invaluable ally to me
in the^hospital pen, and also to another Fancier,
Mr. Woodhouse, who kindly divulged to me the
secret of its healing virtue.
Now a few words about

DIET.

Feed small birds on small seed. Mr. Wood-
house attributes much of his success in rearing
to adopting this method. Millet, rice, wheat,
dari, small maple peas, tares, canary, and rape
are all good, making tares the staple food, be-
cause to pigeons they are what bread is to man
— plain healthy food, neither fattening nor stimu-
lating, but nourishing. Beans and maize should
not figure on the menu for short-faces. Always
purchase the best quality. Whether Carlyle's
dictum " cheap and nasty " is true in politics and
clothes I leave the reader to judge, but in pigeon
food I can vouch for its inspiration. Never buy
your food ready mixed. Pigeon-mixtures are
often made the medium for disposing of a quan-
tity of inferior grain, which is almost impercep-

A CAUTION TO FANCIERS. 75

tible unless the samples are closely inspected. I
prefer to buy each of the different kinds of corn
separately, and perform the mixing operation
myself.

Pigeons require a constant supply of grit to
assist in the digestion of their food ; also a
quantity of lime, to furnish materials for the for-
mation of the egg-shells. A mixture of sand, old
mortar, and crushed oyster-shells answers the
twofold purpose admirably. A lump of common
salt must never be absent from the flight for the
bird to peck at pleasure. This is their one
weakness — a love of salt. I will here give a
recipe for a delectable confection much affected
by the denizens of my aviary. The preparation
of it is somewhat tedious, but the high esteem in
which the birds hold it well repays for the outlay
of trouble.

Mr. Woodhouse's Salt Cat : —

peck of sifted loam and clay.

Ibs. of flour,
handful of cummin.
„ aniseed.
,, ground cloves.
„ carraway.
„ fennel.

dill.
„ fenugreek.

76 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

handful of powdered assafoetida.

„ common salt.

., bay salt.

„ linseed.

„ canary.

„ hemp.

,, ground allspice.

Mix all well together dry, then add water; and
mix stiffly. Make into three lumps, and bake in
slow oven for one hour.

This delicious aromatic compound is known
by the euphonious name of " Salt Cat." Where
the cat conies in I fail to discern. There is a tra-
dition whispered through the Fancy that ancient
Fanciers concocted a secret preparation for the
delectation of their birds as gruesome and re-
pugnant as witch-broth — one ingredient of which
was a baked pussy-cat. Hence the origin of the
odd name. For lack of one more appropriate,
succeeding generations of Fanciers retain the
title but omit the cat. There must, however, be
something uncommonly scrumptious in dead cats,
for if I mistake not, one had also to do with
christening a certain strong drink " Old Tom."

( 77 )

CHAPTER VII.
THE FAVOURITES OF THE FANCY.

I.

THE ALMOND TUMBLER.

THE Almond Tumbler occupies the throne of
supremacy in the Pigeon kingdom, and it bears
its honours with becoming dignity and ease.
The Pouter has his admirers, so has the Carrier,
but the Almond is the "worthy chief" of the
" wondrous three." Where is its peer ? It is
a prince of beauty, a paragon of comeliness, a
banquet of splendour. Can you find another bird
radiant in such magnificent clothing ; of carriage
so courtly, and manners so engaging ? The
Pouter's plumage is a thing of daubs and patches.
Its legs are models of deportment — encased in
feathery breeches, terminating in an amplitude
of Indian moccasin enveloping the entire foot in
feathers. When standing on its block at full
poise, the Pouter reminds me of Mr. Pickwick
perched on his chair, dressed in elongated swal-

78 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

low-tail coat, orating the savants of the club.
The Carrier 'is flighty, wild, and fretful. He in-
spires awe and respect, at a distance. He is a
grand bird, but he takes his grandeur sadly.
The Almond is tame and sociable ; stands trust-
fully ^n your hand ; struts fearlessly at your
feet ; submits condescendingly to a little petting.
It is an amiable bird, and quite companionable.

As a sub-variety of the Tumbler class it is not
of long descent. It did not come over with the
Conqueror, nor establish itself in these islands
during the ascendancy of the Saxons. It is a
modern production ; and a clear case of evolu-
tion by cultivation, having been produced from the
common Tumbler. Many foreign favourites of
insipid colouring and nameless grace have been
introduced into our English lofts, but their novelty
is their only merit. The Almond is indigenous
to the soil, — it is an English bird. Mr. Jayne, an
enthusiastic breeder of the Tumbler, when Presi-
dent of the National Peristeronic Society, deli-
vered an address to the members. His subject
was " The Almond Tumbler," and, among other
wise things, he said : " You are aware my only
hobby has been a short-faced Pigeon, and of all
the varieties none can equal in my idea the
Almond Tumbler; if for no other reason, I

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 79

should admire it as a purely English manu-
factured Pigeon."

It was the first domestic Pigeon honoured by
having a book written air about itself. Such
literary attention was paid to it in the year
1802 by Mr. Windus, a London solicitor. In
1851 the homage was repeated by Mr. Eaton.
The first monograph has yet to be penned on
the Carrier or Pouter.

It is interesting to trace what art has accom-
plished in 1 20 years, during which period the
Almond has been diligently cultivated and brought
to its present state of perfection. The first
English writer, Francis Willoughby (1676), who
refers to fancy pigeons, does not even mention
the Almond. I suppose it was up in the clouds
in his day. John Moore, in his " Columbarum "
(1735), describes it cautiously as a novelty that
he does not comprehend ; so disposes of it curtly
in few lines, most of which are occupied with
discussing its name. At that date the name of
the bird was unsettled. Some called it Almond,
others Ermine Tumbler. Thirty years after-
ward it comes to the front as the favourite
of the Fancy. It is described by the unknown
author of the treatise of 1765 lengthily and
lovingly. In fact, so enamoured of it was he,

80 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

that he is of opinion that the title King of
Pigeons, formerly conferred on the Carrier, should
now be awarded to the new favourite, which
deserved more than the old the honours of the
purple. It was then " a very small pigeon with
a short body, short legs, a full chest, a thin
neck, a very short and spindle beak and a round
button head, and the iris of the eye a bright
pearl colour, and when in perfection is perhaps
as great, if not the greatest, curiosity in the
whole fancy of pigeons." From this gushing
description we are prepared for something de-
cidedly grand when the artist's pencil labours to
produce the portrait ; but from the accompanying
illustration, reproduced from the treatise of 1765,
we see the pencil brings forth merely a pleasant-
faced bird.

From this date the fame of the Almond was
secured. It was impossible otherwise. Such a
prepossessing bird was adapted to win its way
into the affection of the Fanciers. They are a
highly susceptible race of mortals ; to them a
thing of beauty is a joy for ever. After a lapse
of thirty-seven years, bringing us to 1802, Mr.
Windus writes his celebrated treatise on the
Almond Tumbler. Mr. Windus was a solicitor,
and in his trained hand the pen is a very

V

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 81

judicial instrument. It indulges in no flowers
of rhetoric ; it does not allow the branches of
poesy to run over the wall. His description of
the bird and its environments is severely metho-
dical, unimpassioned, and business-like, but ac-
curate in all detail. He was a good Fancier.

The principal record of advancement in the
culture of the bird was that now feeders for its
young have become necessary. The author of
the Treatise of 1765 says of Almonds: " They
require no attention while breeding provided
you supply them with meat and water, and
throw them a little straw." The Almond verily
has refined its manner, requiring now a pair
or two of wet nurses to wait on it. The accom-
panying illustration shows the bird of the period.
At this date (1802) the standard length of beak
was seven-eighths of an inch.

After nearly a half century of silence the
voice of the enthusiastic Fancier, Mr Eaton, is
heard discoursing quaintly and discursively on
the merits and management of the Almond
Tumbler. In 1851 he published his Treatise,
which is a reprint of Windus, with additions by
the author. This work puts us down on the
threshold of the age we live in.

During the last eighty years, with the ex-

82 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

penditure of much skill and patience, the bird
has become wondrously improved in fineness of
qualities. The formation of the head is bolder ;
the brow more beetling ; the standard length of
beak reduced from seven to five- eighths of an
inch. j The carriage is more spirited and grace-
ful ; the contour more flowing and compact. If
there be room left anywhere for improvement it
is in the ground colour of the plumage, which
wants redeeming from the present dusky red or
mahogany brown to a rich toned yellow. The
late Mr. George Chapman, of Cambridge, de-
served thanks from all of us for his contribution
toward the improvement of the bird in head and
beak formation. Forty years ago he found the
bird comparatively coarse in these qualities.
When he passed away last July, he left it in its
present perfected condition a legacy to us of a
life's enthusiasm. Mr. Chapman has joined the
mighty Pigeon Fanciers of the past, but he
leaves behind him the memory of a great enthu-
siasm for the ideal, even as the fragrance of the
violet lingers in the lane after the flower itself
has been snatched away.

Every rose has a thorn. " There are tricks
in all trades but mine," says the model business
man ; I must confess our hobby has a shady

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 83

side to it. There are two kinds of Fanciers,
the " head and beak " and the " feather Fanciers "
— the former striving for grandeur in formation
of head, the latter for splendour in colouring of
feather. The head and beak Fancier is not above
suspicion. He abhors a bird that is " mousy "
or " pleasant-faced." It must have a grand
" stop " to it, by fair means or by foul. So he
drifts into the ignoble knack of " making up "
the head of young birds, thus trying to reach his
ideal by a short cut. Mr. Fulton, in his classic
tome on Pigeons, reveals the method of the mal-
practice, for which candid utterance he deserves
the warmest thanks of all honest men. There
is no way of putting down an evil practice so
thoroughly effective as dragging the monster out
by the ear into the fierce light of publicity, and
allowing a virtuous and indignant public to kill
him by criticism. May the tireless clamour of
public criticism assail the nefarious practice of
crushing into shape a Tumbler's skull, until it
becomes one of the sins of the past. It is a
disgrace to humanity ; it is the scandal of the
Fancy.

The practice is cruel. Many young birds are
killed, literally crushed to death, in the process.
Those that survive suffer for life. In extreme

84 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

cases, the nostrils being jammed together, the
birds must breathe through the mouth, if they
breathe at all, thus developing chronic bronchial
disorders. The constant running and irritation
which gives so much trouble is attributable to it.
The tcfrture is extreme. The bird is invalided
for life.

The practice is immoral. It is fraudulent ; it
is done to deceive. The manipulated bird enters
the show-pen as a natural specimen ; it takes
prize-money, and will perhaps be sold at a high
figure. If that is not immoral conduct, I should
like to know what you call cooking a balance-
sheet or forging a cheque ! The system is a
swindle, and only done to obtain money under
false pretences. I heard a Fancier-dealer say :
" They can do what they like, I shall make my
birds ; I can sell them." Wherever it goes the
made bird carries a lie on its face.

The practice is repulsive. The bird is rendered
ugly, deformed by the vile tinkering and torturing
it undergoes. I hold if you break the natural
line in the contour of a bird you destroy its
beauty. Nature is a better designer than you
are. It is so in art. One false line or curve in
a picture destroys the whole of the pleasing effect.
You look at the picture and say : " Yes ; a very

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 85

fine figure, but the artist has made a mistake
there. The drawing of that limb is false ; it is
out of proportion ; it spoils the whole canvas."
So it does, for you cannot keep your eye off the
defect if you try to. Crush a bird's skull in,
and the natural line of beauty is destroyed. The
bird is rendered ugly, hopelessly ugly for life.

It is a significant fact, since this black art
prevailed, " The number and character of Almond
breeders," says Lewis Wright, " has declined,
and more than one gentleman has left this Fancy
in disgust as soon as he learned what he must
do in order to win. The remedy is to give back
the old prominence to " feather," and the result
would be a return to that old state of things when
the Almond Tumbler was the chosen pet of men
of family and position." Set it down as a fact,
grand heads can be bred honestly. 1 have seen
them in the lofts of gentlemen who would not
sell their characters for gold, nor behave bar-
barously to the pets they love so well. Honest
men wish to breed quality, not to make it with a
wooden tool. I have seen high class birds ab-
solutely spoiled in this way. Their owner was
incorrigibly addicted to the bad habit of tooling
every nestling whether it needed it or not, that
when he bred an extra good bird he could not

86 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

keep his fingers off it. It now remains for the
judges to support public opinion, and set the seal
of their condemnation upon the malpractice, by
disqualifying every flagrant example that appears
before them in the show-pen.

It irjay not be uninteresting to give here a
brief biographical account of Mr. Gellett, father
of the Almond Tumbler Fancy. Mr. Gellett is, I
believe, of Huguenot descent. Residing in the
midst of the district where the busy weavers
plied their shuttle and reared their birds, he is
also associated with the honourable and ancient
craft which once gave glory to Spitalfields. Mr.
Gellett is well into years, but is still ardent in
his old hobby. Charles Lamb said of himself,
" Our spirits showed grey before our years ; "
but of our juvenile veteran we may say age
creeps upon the core while the dew is yet upon
the leaf. Mr. Gellett wears the mantle which
fell from his friend and master in the Fancy,
George Chapman. Mr. Gellett says : " My
recollection carries me back more than sixty
years. A very curious pigeon came into the
possession of a gentleman who wished to know
its value. I was sent with the bird to an old
Fancier for his judgment. He gave it the name
of a dun Barb, but of little value. This afforded

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 87

me the delightful opportunity of seeing his loft
of birds, one of which instantly riveted my
attention — a beautiful spangled pigeon. That
is the only bird I retain the faintest recollection
of in that loft — an Almond splash. Its gay
feathers, its beautiful hackle and wings glisten-
ing with various tints, I can never forget,
although I have seen and forgotten many things
since that day. Three or four years afterwards
I was in a shop kept by a man named Lemay,
for the purpose of purchasing a pair of blue
Dragons for a playmate, when a pair of charming
little Almond Tumblers were shown to a gentle-
man, the sight of which fed my love of the birds,
and kept it well nourished for many days. Many
years elapsed before I again had the pleasure of
seeing an Almond.

" I now became apprentice, leaving home,
during which term several attempts were made
to indulge my hobby ; but having to trust to
others, the game did not pay for the candle.
However, if I could not keep Pigeons, I read
about them. Every scrap of pigeon-lore was
precious in those days. Reading the old book
of 1802 on the Almond was a favourite pastime
to me. I well-nigh knew the contents off by
heart.

88 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

" Married life, with its duties and responsi-
bilities, together with the charge of an increasing
family and slender means, put aside for many
years the fulfilment of my cherished purpose —
Pigeon-culture; but the spark early kindled
never died out. The long-deferred opportunity
welcomely came. In 1860 business brought
me into contact with an old Fancier of the
Almond, and being by him shown some very
fine specimens, I determined to commence breed-
ing at once, and have continued so to do to the
present time. Soon after this, being introduced
by a member, I paid a visit one night to the
Feather Club. Nothing but Tumblers were
shown on this occasion — Almonds, Mottles, and
shortfaced Beards. I was much surprised after
the introduction to find myself in the company
of gentlemen, having up to this period enter-
tained the notion that whatever interest there
might be in Pigeons, the company of those called
Pigeon- Fanciers was not desirable. I was agree-
ably disappointed. After a few visits I became
a member. At the time of my joining, the
Feather Club consisted of but few members ;
however, they were a select few, with whom I
am still proud to have been associated. I can
look back over a gulf of time, quarter of a

THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 89

century wide, with unalloyed pleasure to those
fortnightly meetings held through the winter
months. Enlivened with the light-hearted jest
and the merry laughter, the good-humoured
discussion on the current doings of the Fancy,
and a hearty welcome to ' Fanciers all ' — joyous
times, the record of which are cut deep into the
tablets of my memory — very pleasant to look
back upon, and to be thankful that such times
were. The Feather Club eventually merged into
the City Columbarium Society, which is a strong
society at the present date.

" About twenty years ago my stud was en-
riched by the addition of several of my dear old
friend Chapman's birds. Mr. Chapman had for
many years been President of the Feather Club.
After having discharged the duties of the office
for eighteen years, he resigned through ill-health.
To show our respect the chair was vacant the
ensuing season, at the close of which I had the
honour of being elected to succeed him, and was
re-elected eight consecutive years. About this
time a few of the new members became clamor-
ous for competitive shows, which, with my pre-
decessor, I always opposed, as being detrimental
to the peace and harmony of the Society. I
declined to be again nominated to the chair ;

90 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

and was gratified in receiving a very flattering
testimonial, subscribed for by the old members,
and whose names thereto attached will ever
be dear to me, thus terminating my spell of
presidency in a most agreeable manner. In
1883 J purchased the whole of Mr. Chap-
man's remaining stock, consisting of a hundred
birds. It is very doubtful whether any con-
temporary breeder of this interesting variety
approached him either in quantity or quality.
I therefore esteem myself fortunate in this ac-
quisition, and am still desirous by all honest
means to improve and raise the standard of ex-
cellence of this pleasing variety."

II.
THE BALDHEAD.

THE Baldhead Tumbler. After the Almond we
consider this the most beautiful variety of the
Shortfaced family. Moore, the patriarch of the
Fancy, does not mention this variety. Perhaps it
was beneath his patriarchal notice. The author
of the Treatise of 1765 seized the opportunity
thus charitably presented, and puts original mat-

BLUR BALDIIEAD.

THE BALDHEAD. 91

ter into his book, of which there is great scarcity,
by appropriating half a column to the Baldhead
and his cousin the Beard. By the way, who is
the author of that Treatise ? The authorship of
it has evoked within the circle of the Fancy as
much anxiety and speculation as the renowned
Letters of Junius produced amongst politicians
and litterateurs sixty years ago. This being the
first printed record of the Baldhead, it is worthy
of reproduction in these less historic pages. The
writer says : " The bald-pated Tumblers, which
are of various colours in their body, as blacks,
blues, &c., with a clean white head, a pearl eye,
white flight, and white tail, are esteemed good
flyers, and are very pretty even when flying in
the air, for the contrast of the feather appears
at that distance when the weather is clear and
fine."

So at present our favourite Pigeon is only a
longfaced flying Tumbler worth eighteenpence.
To our taste, no sight in the air is prettier than
a cloud of Baldheads sporting on the wing, per-
forming their evolutions and gyrations, provoking
redundant amusement and admiration amongst
the watchers on terra firma. These seriel acro-
bats are reputed to have sustained themselves
on the wing from five to ten hours at a stretch.

92 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

This remarkable accomplishment is the result of
severe training and constant practice. Inde-
pendent of these " champion flys," for which they
are famous, Baldheads when at liberty are very
pretty hovering about the house, if it be only a
London house — one in a long sombre row of
fifty, and the odd forty-nine houses being mono-
tonous repetitions of your own. Even then they
are a graceful acquisition to the dwelling, dawd-
ling round the chimney-pots, loitering in the back-
yard, stealing mustard and cress seed from your
irrate neighbour's garden-patch, or scratching
among his sickly flowers in search of grit.
Their plumage is shabby genteel, soiled and spoiled
by the provoking nastiness of London filth and
fog. But they are gay and blithesome withal.
How much more graceful are they in the country
where the atmosphere is of Arcadian purity, and
the snowy whiteness of their plumage retains its
immaculate delicacy all the year round. The
vivid contrast of the white patches and the body
colour is entirely picturesque, such as no other
bird presents. They become tame and familiar,
they will come in the door when open, perch on
the window-sill, and be quite at home, and con-
sider themselves members of the family as much
as the dog or the parrot if you encourage their

THE BALDHEAD. 93

advances, and do not keep a cat, except it be a
salt one.

The origin of the shortfaced Baldhead is un-
certain. Whether it was bred down from the
longfaced, or whether by a cross with the Almond,
we cannot determine. I incline to the latter
theory, because of the difficulty experienced in
breeding shortfaced Baldheads with correct mark-
ings. Perfectly marked birds are common enough
amongst their longfaced brethren ; but with
these there is a pertinacious tendency to run
unevenly cut, dirty thighed, and speckled on the
head or rump. These peculiarities seem to infer
the admixture of alien blood ; for it is a well-
established fact that in all settled varieties the
pigeon breeds remarkably true. I have in my
possession a yellow Baldhead cock fine in head
and beak, but its body feathers are broken similar
to the Almond ; also several white feathers in the
tail are streaked with colour. I am informed
the parents of it were perfect Baldheads, and
sound in colour. In this instance they " threw
back " a few generations, and thus revealed their
ancestry.

I consider shortfaced Baldheads as difficult to
breed as the Almond, and are quite as valuable.
Good specimens are extremely rare, and the

94 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

rarity is attributable to the difficulty of obtaining
them good, not that the fondness for the variety
has abated. Almost every Fancier at one time or
other in his career has had a try for them.
The birds breed generously, but throw so many
wastrels to one presentable offspring, that much
as their friends admire them, they lack patience
to propagate them. Instead of difficulty being an
allurement to continue, they collapse under the
first pressure of it, and turn their attention to
an easier branch of the Fancy where they can
win an easier victory.

Thirty years ago Matthew Eaton said : " The
London Fanciers are now directing their atten-
tion to Baldheads and Beards owing to their
scarcity. With their knowledge and judgment
I think they will breed them up in a very few
years as good as ever, although it is a work of
time." We have waited patiently for the fulfil-
ment of this prediction. " A very few years "
is on the eve of expiration. The successful
man is overdue, and when he comes what a
splendid golden harvest he will reap ! For
these birds are greatly admired, and when of
good quality, sell at long prices. A perfect
shortfaced black Baldhead would readily change
hands at £50. An engaging pastime this for

THE BALDHEAD. 95

one who is sufficiently enthusiastic and per-
severing to bring the shortfaced Balds and
Beards up to the standard of the Almond. The
work once commenced, every season will record
its perceptible improvement. Nearer the Ideal
the bird will approach in colour, form, and
marking, until at last the one comes forth that
is to astonish the Fancy — but who is going to
breed it ? Napoleon said, the word " impos-
sibility " had no place in his vocabulary ; the
Pigeon-Fancier must expunge the same odious
noun from his word-book.

The four points of the Baldhead are pearl eye,
clean thigh, clean cut, and ten a side.

The important point, and the most difficult to
obtain, is the

CLEAN CUT.

That is, the line on the head which separates
the white feathers from the coloured must be
sharp and clean. If the white feathers dip
down into the coloured, or the coloured feathers
ascend into the white ones, the cut is irregular,
and the charm of the bird's appearance is irre-
deemably undone.

The position of the line of demarcation on the
head is a question of taste, some preferring a
"high cut," others a "low cut." I prefer the

96 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

low cut because it looks more finished and hand-
some, and is, from of old, the correct thing.
Those readers who are familiar with Mr. Wol-
stenholme's beautiful drawing of the Baldhead,
engraved in 1852, and published by Matthew
Eaton, must admit the truth of this. A "high
cut " bird looks unpleasant and unnatural. It
is a burlesque on the beautiful. I know it is
an unpardonable sin to contradict the throned
opinions of your generation ; nevertheless, I
humbly assert the modern high cut bird is a
monstrosity. Reducing the white on the crown
of the head to a minimum, and driving the
coloured feathers as high on the top of the head
as you can get them, is undoubtedly the pre-
vailing fashion. But in an age when fashion
encourages such eccentricities as tight lacing,
tight boots, chimney-pot hats, and high cut
Baldheads, you are prepared for any aberra-
tion, however grotesque, it may be guilty of.
If you want to keep fashion straight, watch it
very sharp ; if you do not, it will run off into
the temple of folly, and worship at the shrine
of ugliness. Some Fanciers change the term
and call it dose cut, but I dub it close cropped,
for its appearance reminds me of some one
recently liberated from Newgate.

THE BALDHEAD.

97

Push the perverted fashion to extremities,
striving who shall get the highest cut bird in
the show-pen, and what have you for your
wasted pains ? Half a Beard and half a Bald.
In fact, a very high-cut Bald is a good Beard
spoilt. It is now quite time that fashion was
taken gently in hand and recovered to sanity
and beauty. Then this cutting question would
be at rest. This is the
ideal cut.

The next thing desired
in the Baldhead is

CLEAN THIGHS.
In fact, all feathers on
the hinder parts must be
white — the thighs, the
rump, the vent, and the
tail. As the bird stands with its wings folded
not a coloured feather should be discernible in
these parts. Sometimes one thigh is of similar
colour to the body, sometimes both. This is
called foul-thighed, which is a grievous fault.

THE PEARL EYE

is another point to be carried. The iris round
the pupils should be of a silvery white or pearl

98 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

colour, and the brighter and more silvery this is
the better. Frequently birds are " bull-eyed ; "
that is to say, one eye is of a dark dead colour.
This fault prevails in birds that are low cut, and
that have an excess of white blood in them. I
have^a beautiful black hen, otherwise good, but
being low cut and fifteen a side is, of course,
bull-eyed.

This fault is peculiar to Baldheads. I never
saw it in Beards or Almonds, except in white
birds Almond-bred, and in these it is called
purry-eyed. I never breed from bull-eyed birds
now, because I have proved by bitter experience
it is spending time and trouble for nought.
You rear a young one in the nest for four or
five weeks, good all round. You are hopeful
it will turn out well. Every morning with
fearful joy you examine critically the eyes of
the squeaker. One eye gradually gathers lustre
and brightens beautifully ; the other eye remains
dull and dead as ditch water, the old hereditary
fault reasserting itself. Bull-eyed birds are a
delusion and a snare. Do not breed from them
if you would eradicate a prominent blemish
which renders the Baldheads unsightly to look
upon and provoking to breed.

THE BALDHEAD. 99

TEN A SIDE

is the next point to be attained — that is to say,
the ten primary flight feathers in each wing
should be white. The upper and lower man-
dible should be perfectly white also, not having
a stain of colour upon them. Putting aside this,
the head and beak qualities of the Baldhead are
similar to the Almond, one standard answering
for both birds. In fact, the Baldhead differs
from the Almond in nothing but feather.

The size of the bird is an important considera-
tion. It must be small — the smaller the better.
Diminution in size is the result of inbreeding.
Late-bred birds also are frequently small and
weakly.

The colours of the Baldhead are blue, silver,
red, yellow, black, with the off colours dun,
creamy, mealy.

BLUES AND SILVERS

are the most numerous and the best quality
birds. They should be matched together to
improve the markings of both — Blue cock and
Silver hen, or vice versa. If two Blues are
matched together, their offspring are apt to run
down in colour, the blue becoming deeper and

ioo THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

dusky. Two Silvers paired, the black bars on
the wings of their issue will deteriorate — the
blackness fading into a rusty brown, which
give birds a shabby washed out appearance.
Match the two colours together, and you correct
the faults in each. The blue imparts density
to the bars on the silver wing. The silver
communicates the delicate soft tone to the body-
colour of the blue. Mr. Woodhouse's strain
ranks the best amongst Blues and Silvers.

REDS AND YELLOWS

are rarely met with possessing high-class short-
faced qualities. These do better when crossed
similar to Blues and Silvers. The colour flies
in Yellows when bred together for a few genera-
tions ; in fact, they almost become colourless.
Rich deep Yellows owe their heightened colour-
ing to the Red jackets of their mates.

A name worthy of note, and inseparably asso-
ciated with the Red Baldhead, is that of Mr. E.
Burchatt of Croydon, an enthusiastic breeder of
this charming variety. Mr. Burchatt bred his
birds in and in for many years, and succeeded
in producing a strain almost perfect as far as
colour and markings were concerned. But his
birds failed in carriage, eye, and head, till he in-

THE BALDHEAD. 101

troduced a magic drop of Almond blood into his
loft. The bird selected for this experimental
cross was a red Agate hen, excellent in head
and carriage, and of Chapman's strain. This
hen Mr. Burchatt matched to one of his best
red Baldhead cocks, and the bird selected
from this union was a hen of grand Tumbler
properties, entirely red in feather except two or
three white flights in one wing. This hen was
paired to her father, and from the progeny of
this pair a Red hen, fine in head and carriage,
was selected to continue the experiment — the
selected one having five white flight feathers in
each wing, and a sprinkling of white feathers on
the top of the head. This red-and-white hen
was matched back to her father, and from this
happy union suddenly sprang a very fine family
of Baldheads — well-marked, of fine carriage,
and broad and lofty skull, with typical eye and
beak.

Some time after this success Mr. Burchatt
was compelled, through ill-health, to dispose of
his birds. They were brought under the ham-
mer in Mr. Steven's sale-room. One or two
were knocked down to Mr. Stuck, a rare old
Fancier ; but the cream of the collection passed
into the lofts of Mr. Fulton. The prices ranged

102 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

from £3, 53. downward. Shortly before his
death Mr. Burchatt said to his friend Mr.
Fulton : " Fulton, I feel I am leaving home to
die. I have a desire that you get the best of
my birds ; but for you I should never had such
good 9nes. I tried breeding two Balds together,
but could get merely pleasant-faced birds — ex-
cept those I made. The trouble with such I
would never repeat. I read your advice how
to get head and beak, and disbelieved it until
Mr. Roper advised me to try it." Mr Burchatt
never " made " another bird after this trial, for
it never needed it.

His wife endeavoured to persuade the dying
Fancier not to sell all his birds, but to take a few
away with him when he left home in search of
health. She feared the absence of the daily
pleasure he derived from his pets would hasten
his end. He replied : " I am content in having
bred Baldheads to please Mr. Fulton. I fear if
I did keep a few the time is so short that it
would be useless ; and perhaps they might die
for the want of attention I now can't give them."
Mr. Fulton bade his friend " Farewell ! " and the
two never met again. Mr. Fulton honoured his
friend's parting desire, and purchased the best
of his birds.

THE BALDHEAD. 103

BLACKS

are rarer still, and very difficult to breed any-
where near the mark. They run coarse in head
and beak ; the feathers under the breast fre-
quently shade off into a slaty tint. Do not
breed from these defective birds. They may
occasionally throw a good-coloured offspring, but
the taint is in the blood, and will show itself
most every nest. We want to breed it out.
The rich, lustrous jet black, so admired in
Carriers, is the beau-ideal black for me, if you
please, and such is a treat to look upon, and a
treasure to possess.

A high-bred Black Baldhead, caparisoned in
its sheeny sable costume, surpasses the stately
grandeur of a Spanish Hidalgo. And when,
besides possessing the properties of a shortfaced
Tumbler, the bird is well cut and clean thighed
and ten a side, it is a prize worth having, and
no bird of any other variety could be put in
a pen with it alone without suffering by the
comparison. To breed such a Baldhead is a
supremely difficult task, worthy all the skill,
ingenuity, judgment, and devotion an experi-
enced Pigeon-Fancier can put into his work ;
and when it is an accomplished fact, the joy of

104 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

possessing it and watching other people admire
it will amply recompense all the outlay of time
and patience it costs.

The most faithful and constant friend the
Baldhead has had during the last forty years
is Mr. Woodhouse. This gentleman is a keen
Fancier, a clever breeder, a successful exhibitor,
and he is profoundly intimate with the habits,
requirements, and complaints of the Pigeon. We
append a brief sketch of his career : —

MR. WOODHOUSE'S NARRATIVE.
I began to keep pigeons when about nine
years old, in the year 1834. It was the agony
of toothache that gave me a place amongst the
noble army of Fanciers. My mother was glean-
ing in the harvest field one autumnal afternoon.
I ran up to her crying piteously, making a
frantic fuss of tears and screams. My dear
mother, quite scared, asked, " What is the
matter with you, Willie ? " After more sob-
bing and stamping, and burying my face in her
gown, Willie said, " I have got the toothache."
My mother felt for her dear boy — dropped her
armful of gleanings under the hedge of the
harvest-field, sat me on the pile of brown corn,
and asked to be shown the tooth that caused

MR. WOODHOUSE.

THE BALDHEAD. 105

this terrible suffering and pain. " This is the
one at the back."

" Yes ; I see it. It is decayed, Willie. It
must come out. You will get no rest until it is
out."

Willie bellowed and capered about furiously
at this awful consolation, and cried, " I can't
have it out ; I won't."

Mother said, " If you have it out, Willie, I
will give you whatever you like best."

I closed at once with the offer and told her
old Mrs. Rumbellow down in the village had
a pair of young pigeons to sell, and I should
like to have them very much indeed. So on
that evening — oh, I remember it well, grey-
haired man that I now am-^-mother took me
to the village dentist. An old carpenter was
this dentist. He understood more about jack,
plane, and saw than he did tooth extracting. I
was placed in the chair. I trembled all over at
thought of the dreadful operation to follow ; my
heart was in my mouth, but the pair of pigeons
were in my eye, and these made me feel brave.

" Open your mouth ; lean your head back, my
boy," said the skilful practitioner. In went the
instrument of torture, a wrench, a pull, and out
came a tooth. But, alas ! not the offending

io6 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

member ; he had pulled out a sound tooth, its
next door neighbour.

" Ben Fuller, what have you done ? " ex-
claimed the fond mother ; " you have pulled the
wrong tooth out of my poor dear boy's jaw."

Ben Fuller got a jacketing for his clumsiness,
and mother wound up her wrathful oration by
saying to me in tenderest tones : " Willie, you
had better have the other tooth out while you
are here — remember the Pigeons. I did re-
member them, and consequently sat down again,
meek as a martyr, and for the Pigeons' sake out
came the right tooth at last. Hurrah ! I had
won the first pair of my pets, which still remain
my pets to this day in the year of our Lord
1886, just fifty-two years afterwards.

I have kept Shortfaced Tumblers about fifty
years, so I am familiar with the birds and the
birds are familiar with me. My pets are Balds
and Beards. It is said by some Fanciers of the
present day that they have never seen any of
those equal in head and beak to the Almond
Tumbler. A great many Balds and Beards have
been bred by myself equal to the Almond. With
them I have won the silver cup at Boston and
Crystal Palace for the bestTumbler of any variety,
beating Almonds, Kites, and Agates.

THE BALDHEAD. 107

This is how I first came to breed Shortfaced
birds. When I was an apprentice boy, I said
one day in the workshop : " I will tell you my
favourite Pigeons — to my mind there are none
like a pair of Yellow Baldheads." Thus I
made my choice ; but how to get them was the
difficulty. I knew they were not to be had for
money, because they did not ' exist. I knew I
should have to breed them if I ever obtained
them. I tried the experiment — the harder the
task the more fascinating it gradually became
to me.

I bought several birds at Club Row and Kent
Street, Borough. Some of them had tidy knobs,
and were so badly cut that I crossed them with
pleasant-faced flying Balds, and recrossed till
the strain began to improve in style by this
method. Now and then I bred a better cut bird,
with better head properties, and this encouraged
me to persevere. In a few years I had quite a
respectable-looking little family around me. I
then began to exhibit them at Friendly Shows
for the " benefit " of a Fancier in misfortune.
Eventually my birds were much talked of, and
would draw a good company when I put a dozen
into a pen at one of these Shows. I began to be
quite famous in the Fancy, for " Oh such charm-

io8 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

ing little shortfaced Baldheads ! " and I felt
proud of my success.

My earliest purchaser was Thomas Ridpath
of Manchester. He was a real enthusiast.
Hearing up in the far north of my shortfaced
Balds, he took a journey of 200 miles to have a
look at them. I shall never forget showing
them to him — there were about fifty birds in
all. " What is the price ? " was his terse note
of admiration. My answer was : " There — go
in amongst them and take what you like at a
guinea each." I left him alone to pick for half
an hour, and when I returned he had chosen ten
birds. I told him he could leave them with me
till morning, as there was no train to Manchester
that day. But he would not allow them out of
his possession, and I learned from him, the next
visit he paid to my loft, that he put them under
his bed that night at the hotel. He did not dare
permit them out of his presence. He showed
them at Manchester and elsewhere, and won
First for them, and continued to do so, as I would
not show against him.

After a time another good Fancier came to my
loft who did not mind £10 or £20 for a first-
class shortfaced Bald. This new and true
Fancier's name was Joshua Fielding of Rochdale,

THE BALDHEAD. 109

who won more prizes for shortfaced Balds and
Beards than any other man, bar myself.

About the year 1855, one evening I called
upon William Barber, who kept a Pigeon Shop
in Slater Street, to have a chat, and to pick up
anything good in my way. Who should enter
Mr. Barber's shop but another old shortfaced
Fancier, and never a better, as I afterwards
proved. Mr. Barber mentioned my name in
conversation, when the gentleman exclaimed,
" Woodhouse ! Is this the Woodhouse that
has shortfaced Baldheads ? " " Yes, this is the
identical man," said Mr. Barber. " Allow me,
Mr. Woodhouse, to introduce you to Mr. Bel-
lamy the Almond Fancier." In course of a few
days Mr. Bellamy was at my place in Old Street
Road to inspect my birds. I took him upstairs;
opened the door; as soon as he looked round
the room, with uplifted hands he exclaimed,
" Really ! Woodhouse, I was not aware there
was such a splendid stud of shortfaced Balds
and Beards in existence. He asked what I had
bred them from. I told him the truth : " From
all sorts of odds and ends that I could pick up."
He advised me to show them. I took his ad-
vice. I showed and won First at the Crystal
Palace for Red and Yellow Beards, also for Bald-

no THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

heads. This was about 1856. After this I
showed regularly. I bred a blue Baldhead cock
in 1872 which proved the Champion of the Fancy.
He started with taking First and gold medal at
Rochdale. First also at Boston, where I met
Robert Fulton. Mr. Fulton said : " I should like
to buy the blue Baldhead cock — fix a price on
him ; only let it be reasonable." We walked
together toward the bird, stood in front of his
pen, and I replied, " Well, Robert, I have set my
mind on that bird making me £50 before he
leaves my possession. If you will give me that
amount, the bird is yours." The bird remained
in my possession. I showed it for several years
running. He valiantly stood his ground, defeat-
ing all comers, winning many challenge cups,
and taking the sweepstakes at the Peresteronic
Show held at the Freemasons' Hotel. The bird
made me the required £$o. He brought £38
in prizes, and then at ten years of age was sold
to Mr. Martin of York for £12. Mr. Martin
bred from him, and his stock has won ever since,
and unless some one breeds better, is likely to
continue so doing.

About thirty years ago I bred a very curious
bird which created a lively interest in the Fancy
and out of it. The parents of it were common

THE BALDHEAD.

in

Baldheads. But the peculiarity of this offspring
was that from the crown of its head rose a crest
of white feathers similar to that which embel-
lishes the head of the great crowned Pigeon
of the Indian Archipelago.

The following description of it appeared in
the pages of the Poultry
Chronicle of contem-
porary date : — " This
curious pigeon is alive,
and in my possession.
It is a pure-bred bald-
pate, of which it has
the properties — viz.,
clean cut, pearl eyed,
clean thighed, and ten a

side. It is the only one in the world, and is a cock
bird. Several competent judges have seen it, and
consider it a freak of nature ; but, whatever it is,
it is a wonder. Several of my friends wish me
to breed from it to get more, but of this I am
doubtful." I sold the bird for three guineas to
Lady Manners of Melton Mowbray.

ii2 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

III.

THE BEARD.

In shortfaced properties the Beard ranks
behind the Baldhead as far as the Baldhead is
behind the Almond. Beards have been sadly
neglected in the last generation. Most Baldhead
Fanciers have taken them on as a sort of sup-
plementary fancy, but not treated them quite
seriously. They generally occupy a secondary
place in the loft. I kept Baldheads for many
years before I owned my first pair of Beards.
I am now very fond of them, for they improve on
acquaintanceship. Several gentlemen, including
Messrs. Masters, Towndrow, Lock, and Wood-
house, are now trying to rub out the reproach, and
are striving diligently to improve this neglected
variety, possessing the serene hope that they
will soon land it in the front of the Fancy. May
they succeed. The coloured engraving is of a
bird in the author's possession. It is a portrait,
not a prophecy.

The Beard in shortfaced properties is to be
judged by the standard of the Almond, from
which it differs only in markings. The points
peculiar to this variety are very few and simple.
The marking or " beard " which gives the bird

-/MS

A Portrait from Life in Possession of the Author.

THE BEARD. 113

its name is the principal feature, and consists of
an unbroken crescent-shaped patch of white at
the throat, below the beak. The foible of some
Fanciers is to reduce the size of this white patch
to almost microscopic proportions — just a speck
of white under the chin. Judged by the
standard of the beautiful, this class of Beard
looks paltry and ridiculous. It tolerates a few
white feathers on the throat certainly, but it
looks as though they were there by mistake.
We feel that their presence is an intrusion to be
apologised for. Seeing it is the marking that
gives the bird its name, let it be a bold feature,
prominently observable, something to be ad-
mired. It is the contrast of colours that gives
the bird its charming effect. Little contrast,
little charm. Let it be pronounced as possible.
The marking most highly esteemed is what
is termed the " swallow throat." The white
feathers start from the eye on each side, and
take a graceful curve downward to the throat.
This makes the most attractive and showy-look-
ing bird. The perfect " swallow throat " is dif-
ficult to obtain. Frequently a streak of white
feathers wanders capriciously off behind the eye,
on either side the head, resembling detached
fragments of cloud straying away from the

THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

main group. Then, again, stray coloured
feathers make incursions over the frontier line
of the " white beard," and settle themselves pro-
miscuously, irrespective of the beauty of the
arrangement. Occasionally the dark feathers
overrun the frontier in such compact masses
that they reduce the " beard " to extremities,
fairly exterminating it, except a dash of white
on each cheek, leaving the
bird just sufficient to form
a small and genteel pair
of Dundreary whiskers.
These last are termed
" dark-faced." Dark-faced
birds do not possess an
agreeable appearance, and
are valueless in the Show-
pen. They are useful for
stock purposes, however, and, matched to full-
bearded mates, may throw model offspring.

The above represents an ideal beard. The
upper mandible in Reds, and Blacks, and Blues
should be dark ; the lower one pure flesh colour.
The flight-feathers, as in the Baldhead, should
be white, but are seldom found ten a side ; yet
the orthodox number, to the turn of the flight,
should be perseveringly aimed at. Eight and

THE BEARD. 115

eight are passable. The thighs must be of the
body colour ; tail and rump white ; the legs also
white feathered, or white " stockings ; " the eye
pearl. Small birds are accounted the best. The
best carriage birds are bred late in the season.
Match a small cock to a large motherly hen.
The cock gives size and carriage, and the hen
stamina to the offspring.

The colours in Beards are similar to Baldheads,
and should be matched in like manner to produce
the best results.

One point in Beards and Baldheads has been
much overlooked lately — viz., the shape of the
neck. A thick neck gives a clumsy and common
appearance to the bird ; a thin, tapering neck
looks graceful and effective.

Another fault common to all Red and Yellow
Balds and Beards is, that the secondary flight
feathers, instead of being solid red or yellow, as
the case may be, shade off to white at the ends.
I never remember seeing a bird without this
fault, except a red Roller hen which was perfect
in beard markings, but, of course, with the ob-
jectionable addition of feathered legs ; the bird
also was barren, or I should have matched her
to a Red cock and tried to breed the fault out of
my loft.

ii6 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

Beard and Baldheads are subjected to the same
cruel treatment that the Almond undergoes —
viz., "skull crushing." I hope a happier and
more prosperous time is dawning for these
beautiful birds of the Tumbler class, and that
soon .ugly specimens with upturned beaks, open
mouths, and goggle eyes will disappear from the
Show-pens, and be discarded for ever. The pure
and delightful pleasures of a Pigeon-Fancier are
sufficiently exhilarating in themselves to satisfy
the ambition of the most ardent and aspiring
natures.

CONCLUSION.

PARENTS, encourage your boys in their desire
to keep Pigeons. The boy who will not play at
cricket or football — who will not keep Pigeons
or Rabbits because they give such a lot of
trouble — such a boy is not the brightest speci-
man of the juvenile race. The worst lads are
those who love nothing but loafing about — idle
in school, idle in the playground, caring for no
hobby. The Rev. A. Headly, popularly known
as " Wiltshire Rector," informs us, " I have
been a Pigeon Fancier all my life, from my
early boyhood being allowed and encouraged

CONCLUSION. 117

in the fancy of my own respected father, who
at eighty odd still enjoyed the sight of a good
bird — fowl or Pigeon. ... I am a father
whose elder boys were allowed and encouraged
by me to keep all kinds of pets, and my sons
' went straight ' in life and have done well, and
I think permitting them to have fancy Pigeons
had something to do with it."

By encouraging your boys in their hobby, not
only are you now providing them with innocent
and healthful recreation, you are also laying up
a rich legacy, which in after life when they
withdraw from the cares and contentions of
business may prove a precious and acceptable
boon. Life has two seasons of youth — one at
each end of it. Intuitively in our receding years
we go back with a strange fondness and freshness
to the tastes we formed in early life.

It is the orthodox English custom for the
successful man to retire into the country to
enjoy himself when his fortune is made. But
what creature under the sun is so utterly
miserable as the retired business man with
nothing to do ! To sit still is intolerable. He
must be active. The problem is how shall he
change his activity ; he cannot stop it. He has
acquired no taste for literature or art, and cares

ii8 THE PIGEON-FANCIER.

less for gardening — stooping makes his back
ache. He will not grow cucumbers — they
disagree with him. He has nothing to do. He
has abundant energy, but no channel by which
to run it off. He grows irritable and moody
in his aimless leisure. He rises late in the
morning — reads the newspaper at the break-
fast table — goes out for a stroll, and talks
politics with any idle neighbour he can lure into
a discussion on topics they know nothing about.
He takes a nap in the afternoon — dines sumptu-
ously every evening at seven, washing down
one course after another with wines of the
choicest brand, and then steps into his carriage
and is driven to a place of entertainment to kill
the residue of the evening in mild dissipation
and artificial excitement. Occasionally, to sub-
due an attack of indigestion, he takes a trip on
the Continent, but returns home disgusted with
the sightseeing and the parlez vous-ing.

I know retired men of this type. A hobby
was not one of the fine arts they cultivated in
early life. The secret ambition of Mr. Pen-
dennis was always to be a gentleman — their
ambition is similar. But they were not to the
manner born, neither can they now accommodate
themselves to it. Like a badly made jelly they

CONCLUSION. 119

are pulpy; they will pour in any mould, but they
won't set. One man I knew, his disposition
turned sour in retirement ; he made it uncom-
fortable for his wife and family at home — his
only diversion was to quarrel with them. An-
other superannuated tradesman was enticed into
a coal-mine speculation. His money went down
the coal-shaft — and stopped there. Another
man, after twelvemonths' experience of playing
the gentleman, abandoned the irksome profes-
sion, took off his coat and plunged into business
again. It was his salvation.

Oh that these men had been Pigeon-Fanciers
in the days of their youth ! They would have
returned to the witchery of the old hobby and
been serenely happy in it.

Farewell, Fanciers all, old and young !
Quietly and peacefully enjoy your pastime.
May gentle thoughts and generous deeds be its
offspring. Of all living creatures birds get
nearest heaven. May your thoughts, your
hopes, and at last yourself, soar higher than
they, until as an emancipated spirit you dwell
for aye in the great overhanging home of man-
kind— the Paradise of God !

INDEX.

Almond Tumbler, 3, 77.
Art of the Fancy, 14,
Baldhead, 90,

, , Low cut, 95.
, , Origin of, 93.
Beard^ 112.

Breeding, secret of successful, 18.
Burchatt, Mr., 100.
Chapman, Mr., 18, 82, 89.
Cleanliness, 69.
Clouds, ministry of, 4.
Club Row, 42.
Cradle of the Fancy, 34.
Diet, 74.
Early rising, 58.
Eaton, Mr., 81.
Education, 55.
Enjoyment, 6.
Enthusiasm, 22.
Fancier, a blind, 10.
Fancy, cradle of the, 34.
,, pleasure of, 6.
,, refining influence of, 24.
Fashionable frivolities, 27.
Fielding, Mr., 108.
Flowers, ministry of, 5.
Friends of our youth, 47.
Fulton, Mr., 38, 101.
Gellet, Mr., 86.
Guides, 66.
Happiness, 7.
Hobbies of fools, 27.

,, great men, 20.

,, rich men, 24.
Hoppers, 61.

Ideal birds, 15.

,, fancier, 19.
Insects, 70.
Lock, Mr., 112.
London, pigeons in, 34.
*' Making up" birds, 83.
Martin, Mr., in.
Masters, Mr., 112.
Megrims, 73.

Nature, religious side of, 5.
Old masters on the brain, 27.
Ointment, 71.
P's, the three, 16.
Parents, a word to, 116.
Pleasure of hand feeding, 62.
Picture Buyers, 27.
Pigeon dealers, 12.

,, hobby, 6.

„ in art, 30.

,, pedigree, 28.

,, profitable, 13.
Queen Victoria, 38.
Redpath, Mr., 108.
Roman Fanciers, 31.
Salt cat, 75.
Strain, founding a, 17.
Secret of successful breeding, 18.
Towndrow, Mr., 112.
Ure, Mr., 17, 18, 19.
Venice, pigeons of, 51.
Ventilation, 67.
Wiltshire Rector, 116.
Windus, Mr., 80.
Woodhouse, Mr., 54, 104.

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