The sun., 1899-04-30
CTTY-BRED HOMING BIRDS.
DoWNToWN BUSINESS MEN WHO REAR
CARRIER PIGEONS

CARRIER PIGEONS
Columbariums on the Roofs of Commercial
buildings, and the Owners Find Good
sport In Racing Their Pets-The Practice
Engaged In quite Extensively Now.
Away up on the roofs OF some Of the old
downtown business buildings some OF the
business men have found Il way OF gratifying
their sporting tastes. In the region between
Duane street and the Battery there are IA num-
Der OF columbarums, or places for the train
ing and rearing Of the homlnG pigeon familiar.
ly known as the carrier" At Duane stgeet
aud West Broadway the first Of these colum-
bnriums is found. Here are number OF
| young pocons in training for the spring races
| The coops arc built upon the roof and each 10
| lt'cd with n Belgium cage so that the birds
| may be captured the instant they return with
| message. ....
The nrst thing necessary" said Mr.. Jabn.
! the proprietor o! the place. in the training OF
| the birds is to teach them to love their home
and tC prefer II to any and all Of the large NUM-
| Der of resting places possible to them In their
! flights of hundreds of miles. Good food and
| good care are essentials. but the homine Inc
| stinct is curously inherent in the birds.
| When they are carried long distance and
| liberated they fly back with out food or rest tot
| their homes.
This instinct ia In n sense dra wbaclsi
|
| cun he sold The older birds. no matter how
| long they are confined. are sure upon released
| to return to their former owners That bird
| there with the green band around Its throatl
has been sold from Brooklyn to Pottsville. Pa..j
with invariably the same result. !. A bird dealer
| near by Is supplied by me with a certain NUM-
| Der Of birds monthly Jim. there. has been
| one of them. The first time he was sold he
| went only to Seventy eighth street and he was
| N "A Than
| was sent to Newark. The man who bought
| him was more careful than his predecessor.
He kent Jim several days .before releasing
but .od ae ni rom s Hi Pa Fhar.
he was kept for five months in close confine-I
ment, Well. that was about tiye months ago
| and there he is over In that red COOP.
80 yon see the faneer has little ev, to do
ins, the bird The character Of the, country he ID
to fly over. The bird s taken short distances
from his home and liberated These distanoes
are gradu Ally Increased until they, measure
hundreds of miles, This is not really neces-
sary II you are willing to take a chance upon
any regular Sss se5yiee ~
ne coast When they Are liberated at ssa
the moment they first sight It, Once over the
land. being familiar with the coast. they strike
an an air Line 1 route for home never stopping until
90 Upon the roof Of the commercial :buildins
|
has number OF champiep, carriers: Mr..
lection the other, day. The star, Of the lot is
Pner now an old a bird: kent only hseause q;
peteq races Of from loo 70 800 miles: eO ;.
said Mr. spaneehi. @ are re- members mel Of Il the e Man
hattan. Homipg Pigeon M ~ Club There There are ar ABOUT
tional. Federation OF American Homing PiRe on.
Iancers We are now training our birds for
Of Of Nay The % Stations ] at which pigeons @ % are
j9e5ated are Wilmngton Del maspolis MIa
tween W @ the the ioft te Of each Federation member and
rs @ we Of BY hs
viii show YOU how:the Federation protects the
The last w95ds wee spoksn half way qp
fancier walked to q large COOP.
"Those aluminium bands about the foot Of
@ put oS heG rhes ss saca scS s bedr
official number given by the Federation era ON;
T Of se tS' brd f All
, into two classes. young birds of year and
those older, The races are run with regard to
! The races are under the direction Of Fed
s5at3n officer the national d race race sesreta.y sec
G The er hs II
assistants. who. mark and ship all birds senb
| from their station. At each place OF liberia
, | tion a sub b-official releases the birds. The
! shipping committee countermarks each bird
! know what device:the band then'put upon.tho
n | homers leg bears. Then. still under the care
OF the shipping commirtee. the birds are sent
| to the officer at the iiherating station. When
4 | he sets the birds at liberty he telegraphs the
/ time Of release to the owner that he may be
!, upon the lookout for his birds Later he
K sends certificate Of liberation; When the
y birds arrive at their coops they tly into Bel
. | gium trap. where the owner quickly catches
them, and. securing the countermdrk band.
e deposits It Ia the official timing machine.
y which both secures the band 1 md marks M the
time at which Il is inserted Thus the regis
! / area covered by the owners entering birds
4 makes compensating balance for different
n | wind and weather conditions"
y The flock OF some hundred birds was re-
e merely cirrllnG overhead in 4 narrow radius. -,
: The birds are caring for their young nov" "
h explained the owner; the coops are full OF
. | young At this time the birds never 20 far
n | from home. When their Young are fully capa-
|" BILE of caring for themselves however. they
: Soon the cocks Of the flock dropped back
e into the coon and sat upon the temporarily
n vacated nests. The fancier explained that the
4 | cocks always allowed their hens entire liberty
!, | during the day. The hens ait upon the nests
: at might alone. while during the day the
. fathers look after the eggs or the young. In-
= deed. the cocks are jealous OF their turn and
Y will force the hens from the nests at daybreak.
In answer to n question the fancier said that
. | a great advance had been made in speed dur
= ing the past few years. The present record Ia
q | 700 miles between sunrise and sunset. The
g birds do not fly at night time. Formerly 2Ou
9 miles in that time was considered good.