The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-28

pepper is beneficial. For general sus-
tenance have an assortment of the best
quality of feed, consisting of old, small
round corn-old il should be always-small
white Canada peas and oat grits. These
can DE obtained in quantities from any fam
cier. II possible, too, add vetches TO the
assortment. Vetches are small black
beans imported from Belgium, and con-
sIdered by many of the crack pigeon flyers
70 be most beneficial article of bird food.
vetches In this country can generally
be obtained from seedsmen. and often
from pigeon faneiers. Now and then the
pigeons Will enjoy mixture of hemp,
canary and rape seed, and will be better
for it.
With wholesome food, plenty of drink
Ing and bathing water. and a clean, dry,
spacious loft, the young birds will thrive,
and daily open air exercise will strengthen
their wings and give them confidence in
their abilities. Let them have plenty of
exercise nying around their home, and
some bright day. when they are about four
months old, take them about two miles
from home IN q basket and give them their
hrst toss" You probably could 60 tive
miles in safety, but it is just as well to be
satisfied with two at the start See that the
birds are released in an open space-not
necessarily elevated-and that no telegraph
wires are directly above TO Check their up
ward hight. They Will speedily find the
way to their loft and soon afterward a i've
mile toss ans so on, until someday, per-
ha ps, if you keep up the practice to that
extent, one of your birds becomes a
record breaker and can tiy 500 miles be-
tween dawn and dusk. If long distance
homes have no temptation for you, the
short distance homeward flights of your
nocks will afford yourself and your friends
much pleasure. An ordinary grabbing net
or muslin net with handle, kept in the
loft will be found useful when you desire
to catch particular birds for trip. Some
times In fog or in storm you will lose a
bird-generally young bird. With
hawks and gllnners prowling about even
old birds are not always safe.
Most fanciers, as winter approaches, run
a wire netting through the center of the
loft, and separate the male birds from the
females. In February the wire is taken
down, and the birds are mated. Earthen
pans or bowls are set in the shelves for the
nests, which are constructed of straw and
hay, mingled with tobacco stems to keep
out vermin. Here again cleanliness is
always chief consideration. The hen
bird lays just two eggs, and her young are
generally cock and hen-sometimes
two hens, but that is rare. 1t occasionally
happens that old birds neglect their
young. That is generally the result of
the parents illness. In such a case it is
liOt uIlusUdl lot SOIlfe OtIeT UObHeF plTu III
the loft to adopt one or two extra young
pigeons and nurse them as though they
were her own.
Nurse them? Yes; it can be fairly said
that pigeons nurse their young Before
the young birds are Matched the setting
hen begins to retain food in her crop.
There it undergoes softening process I'M
til it becomes almost as milk. When the
birds are Matched the mother raises this
semi-liquid food to her mouth, and with
her bill passes her own sustenance into the
wide open mouths of her hungry, helpless
little ones. This is continued for week,
the mothers food each day growing little
harder, until at last the young birds can
pick up for themselves and digest grain
food
All this, as can be readily appreciated,
must be facilitating to the mother bird,
and the tenderest care and the most nu-
tritious food are necessary for the food of
herself and her young. There are, never
theless, some pigeon owners who so utterly
fail to comprehend this as to hy mother
birds in races during the period when they
should be feeding their young. This
may or may not be cruelty to the old
bird, her unimpaired strength being GER
tainly needed for either racing or nursing
purposes alone 1t must be detrimental
to the young birds at very susceptible
and critical time of their lives This for