THE RACING PIGEON.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 96, 24 April 1928, Page 15

THE RACING PIGEON.

CHOOSING STOCK BIRDS.

"TURN CROWN" GROOTERS.

LOCAL CLUB JOTTINGS

In the selection of stock birds for the forthcoming season an examination of their performances alone will not give entire satisfaction, and discriminating fanciers would be wise to study such important items as type, colour, eyecolour and the relation of the b>rds one to another.

Even in lofts of birds that are more or less related the birds may be of a very mixed type and colour, due of course to fairly recent crosses. * t

Where the "in-breeder" or "linebreeder" has an advantage over the "cross-breeder," is that he is able to marshall his facts in their correct order of value, in other words he has a shortcut to not only type, but to the breeding of a reliable racer, inasmuch that his loft of birds when line-bred are more likely to prove dominant, and therefore impress upon their progeny the factors which they themselves -possess.

In the mating of two birds of different colour and strain, and where the progeny take after one particular side, then that parent may be termed a possible dominant, and if the progeny still breed to the same type and colour then the dominant factor is present in a marked degree.

It should be the aim of every fancier to breed from the dominant type of bird, and to watch the birds carefully that produce birds of a different colour and type, especially when that varied colour is not present in the pedigree for several generations.

To define the difference between a "sport" and a "throwback" or "revert," the following little lecture may make things more clear to the younger readers.

If grains of iron and grains of sand are mixed together and stirred about, the result is a mixture. If heat is applied to this mixture, the iron and sand will adhere, but the iron still remains iron and the sand still remains sand. However, if grains of iron and grains of sulphur are mixed and heat is applied, the result will not be a mixture, it will be iron-sulpliide. So in terms of chemistry there is a chemical compound as opposed to a mere mechanical mixture or conglomerate, that could be again resolved into its component parts. Apply this example to our birds. A "sport" is something new altogether derived from the equivalent of a chemical compound applied to breeding. It is prepotent.

A "throwback," however, is simply that (applying our illustration to breeding), a bit of iron or bit of sand has become detached from the mere conglomerate. Therefore, all the difference in the world between a "sport" and a "throwback."

One of the most successful breeders in Australia stated to the writer that his difficult task in breeding was the "mentality" of the birds. A pure strain may be a poor strain if the birds have for several years been kept simply for looking at. Performance must go with pedigree. That is why birds that have not been flown for years and though pure-bred, produce a typo of progeny that can only be classed as a "fool."

In Nature's crucible, by some mysterious means when the egg is fertilised the result may be a "mixture," a "coma "throwback" or a "sport," hence it is desirable to work upon a strain that produces a similar type, and when a bird of a strange type and colour appears in the progeny, to treat it as something very doubtful, until it has proved itself a "sport" and not a "throwback." A bird that reverts to an old ancestor, however, may be a very valuable bird, providing that particular ancestor was a bird of proved merit. This shows the necessity of keeping a pedigree as far back as possible.

THE TURN-CROWN GROOTER. An interesting letter was received by the writer from a famous fancier who personally knew the late Mons Vanderhaeghen, of Grooter fame. The reason of an occasional bird being bred with a topknot was explained by the Belgian, who stated that the late Mons Grooter purohasefj a blue-pied pigeon with a topknot from the captain of a steamer who brought it from Arabia or Persia, and it was evidently a bird descended from those used by the Persians for carrier pigeon post 1000 years before, across the deserts. Mons Grooter kept the fact of his purchase very quiet, especially as the famous "Gorge Blanche" was one of its first progeny. Grooter inbred to this bird and produced some of his most famous birds. Mons Claes and Grooter were boon companions and upon the marriage of Claes he received six pairs of Grooter's best birds. Mons Vanderhaeghen was a nephew of Claes, also his partner in a large brewery, and upon the decease of the latter the Grooters became his property. Thus was founded the famous VanderhaeghenGrooters. Even in Auckland there has been a bird with a top-knot, bred by Mr. F. Coster, from birds imported by the later Mr. Savage, and of the Vander-haeghen-Grooter strain, showing- that this recessive feature at times appears in the descendants of the original bluepied Persian top-knot.

LOCAL CLUB JOTTINGS. Tlie Northern Club Derby race from Hunterville (220 miles) proved a distinct success on Saturday last and over £15 was distributed in prize moneys, also two trophies. Mr. L. Bedford wins Mr. W. Hanson's Silver Challenge Cup, the '"Cuttle" Shield and first prize of £7 10/, with his winning bird Derby King, a nice blue chequer cock, bred from the well-known Yankee-Toft-Grooter-Bell strain. The Yankee-Toft blood has been responsible for a number of phenomenal birds in Auckland, and was imported by Mr. Nello Porter of Auckland. Mr. E. Euseden's second place bird, winning £4 10/, is the good bird Pontiac previously reported as a winner and consistent racer and of 'the Coster-Barker strain. Mr. J. McEvoy's third place bird,,winning £3, is a smart red chequer cock. Mr. H. Crowhurst, with fourth position and racing "under a handicap of 800 yards, gained almost equal third, being • only four yards velocity behind. His bird, a beautiful black hen, Van de Git, has an illustrious pedigree, being from the renowned Black De Groot Gits and a Van Cutsem hen of the J. Patterson, Wanganui, importation. Mr. Patterson paid twenty guineas for the imported Van Cutsem pair, which are now owned by Mr. Harry Duncan, Auckland, who presented Mr. Crowhurst with the dam of Van de Git.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. MANUNUI CLUB.—An answer was* mailed in reply to your query, but has evidently gone astray. As the points raised take up a lot of space, another letter will be forwarded.