The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-12-28

-. - stems 3 keep out verfIIin
c-',l1.S 1e-.d c. aniincss Is always a chief
e. - ~ ION ron. lie be b 4 laws Just W.
esss anu her young are genera ~ \ c,cs
ara a hea-sOmetiules two bans 80, 49,
TT. IL occasionally happens that OH
sil,- =, ,te Sl-ce taeir Young. That Is gener-
a-iy TIE result Of the parents illness. In
- Ease lt Is not unuSual for some other
mother bird in the lJfs to aloyt one or two
IA young pgeOas and nurse them as
'I01gh they We're her own.
Nurse them. Yes; it can be fairly said
,nas pigeons nurse their young. Before the
/ SOuLs blrds are Matched the setting hen
begins to retain food in her cron Tiers il
uuuefgoes softening process until it be-
S1lues aiinose as milk. When the birds are
| n lcnec the mother raises this semi lioril
t0Ou 10 her mouth, and wi. b her bill pass-s
her own sustenance into the wide-open
mouths ~ OF her hungry, helpless little ones
rs continued for a week, thu mothers
lood each day growing little harder, until
az last the young birds can pick up Tor
themselves and digest grain food.
All thls. as can be readily aporecia.eY
must be debili istlng to the mother bird
auu tne tenderest care and the most nutri-
tiuus 1000 are necessary for the food of her
sell ana her young. There are nevertheless.
soine plgeon owners who 50 utterly fail t.
comprehend this as to fly mother nirds in
races during the period when they should
De Ieedlng their young. This may or NAV
not DC cruelty to the old bird, her unlm-
paired strength being certainly needed for
either racing or nursing purposes alone. 1t
must De detrimen al TO the young birds Mt
a very susceptible and critical time of
taelr lives. This, fortunately, is now
generally understood by pigeon raisers.
although there as a time. not so very long
ago, when the influence of the health Of the
mother bird on its young was not clearly
recognized. Newly hatched birds, for ex-
| ample, are sometimes afflicted with canker
IN tne throat. That used to be taken as an
Indication that the little victims blood was
In bad condition, and the young bird was
treated while the old hen was ignored.
flgeon fanclers who keep up with the times
| and do little thinking for themselves, now
realzs when canker in the taroat appears
Ia young bird that the mother birds
stomach is out of order aud that consequent
iiy the food supply for the young is
impure and somewhat Poisonous. Pre-
| llmlnary care and cleanliness, will
nearly always keep your birds in good
condition. but If disease of any kind should
appear In the loft, and you are still inexpe-
rlenced. don't depend on published articles
| for ready-made cures. Consult SO lie expe-
rienced breeder or bird fancier in whom
you have confidence and follow his direc-
tions in the tire tment Of your birds After
time you will know just how to act on
your own responsibility in any emergency.
The best birds, most fancers believe.
come from the March Matching, and these
are always the most sought for. The old
BIRDS are permitted, however, to breed until
| May, and are then put in training for the
| racing season, which usually begins in the
middle of that month 1t would be advisa-
bic bsfore Matching to write to David S.
Rogers OF Philadelphia, the present ra 20
secretary OF the Federation of Homing Pig
| on Fanciers, and order an officially regis
| tered seamless band, or meal ring, for each
| young bird looked for. Each band will be
properly lettered and numbered, and the
| letter and number will be regis
tered in book with the name of the
| owner opposite. Four days after the bird
is Matched the ring is slipped over one of
its feet and allowed to remain on the leg.
Within two weeks the foot will have
grown SO that it will be impossible
to remove the band, and during
the bids lifetime it will remain on the leg,
without injuring it in any way. Should
you then at any time desire to make
record for one of your birds over one of the
| numerous recognized long or short distance
courses, or over any course that can be
easily and accurately measured, you write
to the racing secretary at least two weeks
in advance of the proposed flight, giving
the letter and the number of the bird and
| the starting point. A racing repre-
| sentative connected with a neighboring
| homing club will be assigned to the
starting point, and another representa-
| tive will watch at the home loft. Thus the
| fight can be accurately timed and il a new
record is made it will be officially placed to
your birds credit. Even should you not
care to fly your birds for records you will
| find the registered leg bands useful, for
some birds will at times go astray, or get
wounded, or become exhausted. and the
registered leg band will enable the finder to
| ascertain the whereabouts of the rightful
owner. An honorable pigeon fancier or loft
owner will always go ont of his way to see
that such bird gets safely hons.
The speed of honing pigeon depends on
the wind, the atmosphere and the condition
of the bird 1t often happens that bird
| in good condition, with the atmosphere
clear and with good stiff wind behind
them, can make from 1900 yards to one
mile minute. There are always some
birds that can make 500 miles in the sun
| light of single day. If tried at longer
| distance, though, they wander and
rest, and find their home, if at all,
with much difficulty. and after many
days. The two champion long-dlstauce
| birds of last summer are "Waxem" and
"Petroleum," owned respectively by Mr..
| Garrabrants and Mr.. Bowerman of Newark,
NJ. These birds were liberated early in
the season in Mississippi City, Miss, and
reached their lots, 1,093 miles distant. the
one in twenty-seven days and the other in
| twenty-nlne days. This is the longest
homing pigeon flight on record, although
| some other birds have covered more than a
thousand miles The longest distance pre-
viously recorded is that of "Mo tgomery,"
owned by JOSEPH K. Hudson Of New York,
which made /, 05l miles.
But 1,000-mile flights are both rare
and risky, and many good birds started
upon them have been lost forever. Much
more interesting are the quick 5OO-mlle
FIGHTS. T1ere are now about twenty pig
cons in the United States that have started
in the morning and covered 500 miles be-
fore sunset of toe same day. Among them
are Med Damen," owned by Mr.. Goldmann
of Brooklyn: alexander the Great"
owned by A. H. Kruger of German own,
Pa "Joco," owned by A. Florent OF Pitts
burg. Pa. "Hanover," owned by Joseph +.
Iverson of Brooklyn. and that o.her Brook
lyn bird. the "Duffer," known wherever
pigeon fanciers exist in the United States
as ''The Ideal Homer"
the ''Duffer" IS four years old, and is
owned by Louis w. Spanehl, New YORK
business man, whose Brooklyn loft on the
roof of his private house IS one OF the besG
in the country. The "Duffer" early became
famous as a prize winner in races OF from
loo to 500 miles, easily defeating numerous
and notable competitors. Nine frat prizes
in all it won for its owner, and 1t would