, 1913-05-03
THE CRAZE FOR RACING PIGEONS.
5000 Birds Out Every Saturday.
By Basil Clarke.

AC AN'SC E'o'N ~ 80 'tSASA 'Oi1
London to Yorkshire, and the start is to be
made from Westminster Palace Yard itself.
The event to thousands of people is likely
to prove as interesting as any parliamentary
contest with Il seat as the stake, for pigeou-
flying yields place to no other n0rthcountry
sport ia favour-not even to whippet racing.
The fact that in the r%orthern countries some
10000 to $4,000 pigeons are racing or train
ing every Saturday in the summer is some
indication of the growing craze for pigeon
flying. Any good lancashire or 70, kshire
local race will get an entry of 1000 to
5000 blrls. In half q dozen races across
the Channel arranged for one week. end last
summer there were over 5000 birds, aud for
the National R1ce-the homlng pigeons
"Derby'-an entry OF 5000 birds is not
exceptional.
How the Birds are Trained.
The work of training and rae ng i'll these
BIRDS is tremendous. There is a pretty idea
that you have only TO toss your homiug
pigeon up into the air, say, in r mes or IN
the Channel Islands aud he viii fly straight
home to Newcastle or Manchester or Wher-
ev II his cote and his wife ure.
In reality for each long Journey q pigeon
must be trained over that journey. He
must do the Journey in stages Of about fifty
miles each. Thus all the thousands of Man
chester birds that race from Rennes-the
great pigeon fl lying centre Of Frauce-fo
England have trained in these stages. First
stage, Manchester to Stafford; from here
the bird flies ba"k to Manchester. Second
stage, Manchester to Worcester; from here
the bird again flies buck to Manchester.
And thus the training goes oD in stages
through Stafford, Worcester, Swindou, and
B~ournemoulh, and from each place back to
Manchester. Then comes the first over
water Stage, from Guernsey to Manchester-
always a try ing time, because pigeons dislike
tire sea. Then from Nantes, then from
Rennes.
But these long flights must not be under
taken before a bird is four years old. His
earlier years are filled in with short flights,
with training III ''trapping" and with other
points in good behaviour necess Try to a
racing pigeon. To become strong on the
wing he must fly a certain distance every
day. Miners and their sons will walk five,
ten, or fifteen miles three or four times q
week Just to exercise their yonng pigeons.
To trap wei! means to come straight DO ne,
and training to trap is very essential, for
the time Of a racing pigeons arrival home is
his time in the "trap'' or pigeon cote. Birds
are induced to come straight home by being
sent out hungry and finding a generous
bill of fare on arriving home. Some lady
pigeons trap" better to eggs, so at race
time they are Above to have eggs of their
own to come back to. Some gentlemen pi-
geons trap better to Il sweetheart, 50 the
owners encourage them at racing time in
their counting.
Refractory Pigeons.
incidentally let me mention that birds
which fail to trap well come often to a wick
ell and violent end. The result of all his
owners years of exertion and the winning
perhaps of a big prize may depend on a pi-
geon's coming straight into his cote at the
end of a flight. For the owner must catch
him and read the Starting number fixed
by the starters on his "~fights" (the feathers
under the wing) before he can o'clock the
birds arrival home. And the foolish crea-
ture, in all innocence, may sit on the house
top calmly taking the evening air. It must
he very exasperating and conducive to stern
measures.
l watched q tragedy of this kind once.
The old man coaxed his pigeon, sitting on
the gable of the cottage, but it would not
come down. He offered it dainty food. 1t
would not bulge Then he went into the
cottage AMI fetched out a double-barrelled
gun. care you coming in, lass?' he said
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