HOMING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 53

HOMING NOTES.

Br Mansta Mealy.

Pigeons are not vory early riser?, as I have frequently found when rising at daybreak to watoli the behaviour of m-o- birds under the condition of open loft. But the moment one drops from its perch and begins to strut about, down come the others one after the other. In the same way, as soon as one gets out on the slates, the others lc s & little time in following. A little preliminary strutting and -cooing, then one or two stretch their necks, the others inetaaitly stand expectant, a girunt or two, and with a, crack like that of a whip the flight rise in the air, the noise bringing any etill remaining in the loft out with a rush to join in the spin. Returning from theix fly, they make a raid upon the hoppers, and in the breeding season the squabs are fed before the lazy fancier has opened his eyes. Throughout the day batches of birds take «p in this: way. The driving cock and the driven hon will take long exclusions by themselves, with, I believ*, less worry and wear than being dhased about the loft in-cessantly—-in fact, the oock is not half so jealous under free condition as when shut up amongst many others. The hen coming off the nest will frequently have a. spin round before goin& u> the hopper. The beauty of it is the birds fly when spirited and most desire to. They have not to wait until the master oomes» when offcen the desire for flying has given way to a desire for eating, and the flight is performed against the bird's inclination. For this sort of thing the loft should be an open one, no dark comers for lazy birds to skulk in. This may sound strange, for it will be said lazy birds with such laissez faire treatment are bound to skulk- Not 6o; a fair percentage of good-spirited birds ■will infuse some of the, laaier ones with their activity. Their dash and go will be contagious if all the other inmates are in sight and toucih witih them, and the slower birds will offcen be carried away with them in spite of themselves. I admit with this system the incorrigibly lazy, and also those that cannot keep their beaks out of the hopper, will generally go down in training. But what of thatf The birds that remain trill be those that racist suit the fancier's circumstances. Lazy pigeons and greedy pigeons are useless to the fancier w*ho cannot be at home to con feol* them.

Thraugihout the moulting season and all the rough winter weather I have not found my birds to suffer in the least. In storm and fog they know how and where to seek safety fair better than oarefully-confin&d birds that never encounter them except at the worst possible tim& — viz., in training and racing. Somo cay this open loft business makeg bad trappers. I have not found it so, because I found 1 a means of compelling my birds to work the bolting 1 wires always when entering the loft. There are several simple ways' of effecting this ; tor instance, wires to swing clear eaoh way. or a drop hole in the bottom of the* trap if that is convenient. Another thing, as with every other method, when you do get amongst your birds, don't forget to coax them with canary or other tit-bit. A VISIT TO DUNEDIN LOFTS. (By "Red Chequer," in the Canterbury Times.) On Thursday. April 20. I set out on a long-promised visit to Dunedin. Arrived at the Otago capital. I was very soon in the company of Messrs Finnegan and Torry, who had kindly come to meet me. They had arranged for me to stay (so they term-ed it) at their "diggings, 1 ' Sunwick House, Stafford street. Here I was very comfortably quartered, and here Mr Finnesan's loft is situated. The loft is a well-built structure, facing tiie sun. in a nice snug corner for birds, ueinje sheltered from the south-

' west winds by high buildings on the hill at the back. Mr Finnegan is one of the most methodical fanciers I have met. Every little- detail of the game is attended to. His bird* ar c kept very clean, their feed is carefully kept, and is bought with great care, for nothing- but the best will satisfy. Since start-ing, two years ago, Mr Finnegan has done remarkably well in racing. At one time the Dunedin fanciers began to consider his birds invincible. However, they, like tru-e Britons, began to set their houses in order, and now things are more even ; they are more modern in their methods, and are studying the game more carefully. These efforts, combined with the quality of the birds added to their lofts, are making things harder for Mr Finnegan, much to his liking, for he is not the one who craves for a "soft thing." He is a true sport, and enjoys strong competition. On entering his lofts I very soon recognised several old acquaintances. Here is old Mons Gerard, that homed to Gerard's loft aftei being at Mr Pinnegan's loft for nine months. This bird flew the 200 miles' on a very bad day, arriving hi Christchurch at 7 p.m. His only training was as a youngster from Rangiora, about 16- miles north of Clmstchurch , so the performance was a good one. Thisbird is from son of 114E ex BSA, borh bred by Mr F. G. Edmondson, of Melbourne. Mons G. has bred a, host of winners, and he has been very successful in the showpen, having won two firsts and a second, and has only been in three shows. He is mated to a perfect model of a hen. known in Dunedin as Granny. Her sire, 741 r bred by Osman. dam bred by Gerard, a sister to Major Robin, Stockfish, etc. Granny and Man? G. bred a winner every nest their fvfct season, one of them flying Wellington, ♦00 miles, when 12 months old. I took a fancy to a likely-looking r-ad chequer cock which Mr Finnegan imported from Mr W. F. Knight, of Melbourne — Pure Taft, a fine bird, thp> sort to depend on for long raoas. splendid feather. In fact, I never handled a bird better in this respect, his. covering being splendid. He is correctly built, and his blood of the best, the English Channel hero, Old Boley, • and "Rome 1 cropping up pretty frequently in his pedigree. Wintie is a, perfect hen, just the class of bird to found a loft with. She is nowreserved for stock. She was trained 100 miles as a youngster, exhibited under Mr Maude, and won first in show pen. th& judge expressing his admiration for her in glowingterms. Wintie is sister to birds that have given the fancy many long-distance performer?. Her sire was by Osman* s Old Billy, ex his Thurso hen, therefore brother to-fir^-t Thurso 509 miles : first Shp-fclands. 513 miles; first Arbroath, first Hearfield, first Sh-efforcl. first Newcastle, firs* 'York. etc. t al c d brother to birds flown I/erwiek, 61* miles. Dam c' Winr- h*- 114E ex 171, imported from O.=mr»r the purest of N". Barker blood. Another bird that has done service is Fireworks, a red chequer cock, bred by Mr J. C. Short, Dunedin. from the old Dunedin strain known as M'Donald's.

Fireworks is not at all a bird that takos the eye. He is rather slab-sided in appearance, and gives one the impression that he is one of thoe-? birds that would be in his ■element in a fast racj. He is a favourite of his otraer, for ho won the first race his ir'«.st-er ever coin -•eted in — viz., first Ma-h-eno. Since that event he has woiked very consistently, winning second Ashburton, second Maheno. fiT&t Christchurch, third Maheno, first St. Andrews, third Clarence River, and third Wellington (400 miles}. These performances earn for the old. chap a deal of lespect, and I look forward to seeing his name again among the winners. Two of tha lest birds yet bred by Mr Fionegan, to my mind, are Jean Gerardy and San Jose, t\ro sons of Mons G. and Granny. They aVe> both red chequers, Jean being very dark in colour. These two bird/ have been companions together over many a hard-fought journay. Their best performance, and perhaps, one of the best performances ever done in the D.H.S., was done by this pair When they won the Ashburton race in terrible weather when only five months- old. Jean Gerardy flew second in Derby Race- and San Jose was third in same race, which was won by Mr Finnegan's Sir Victor. Jean has been spelled since then, but "San" has had to keep going, and has flown all stages up to Wellington, doing the last stage when twelve months old. He has been frequently placed in races, being second Mabeno, third St. Andrews, first Studhohne, first Christebureh, and homed with winner St. Andrews. San Jose is the very image of his near relative Ironsides, winner of Gisborne to Christchurch Race, 440 miles, two years in succession, and as he comes of a- race that improves with age, w& can confidently loot forward to his doing brilliant work in the long and trying races. Mr Finnegan owns «- real good bird in, the- mealy hen called Lady Butts, dam of Ormond, Dan Patch, Lorna- Doone, Dan Leno, Grossi, all winners. This hen is only a young bird, yet she has already produced very game and fast workers. She is beautifully bred. Her sire is brother to Mount Royal's dam, and has bred bird* to do their 400 miles. The dam rf Lady Butts combines the rare blood of Ca-teaux and Soffii. At the time of my visit this hen was a picture of health, and is beyond doubt a spdendid type of worker. Mr Finnegan has some more of this hem's strain in his loft, his red cheeuei cock Mount Sierra being bred from the dam of Micront Royal and Gerard's 2436, a black oock that has bred some real good ha.rdweaifcher birds. Mount Srerra is the only red chequer, besides Mount Royal, that hia dam produced, and judging by his appearance he promises to turn out as good aa his relative. If he does. th& Dunedin fanciers have trouble in store for them in the hard races. I am afraid t^at I will weary my readers if I d^well on all fche good birds I inspected, but I -can assure them th&b there are many more worthy of praise to be found in the Sunwick lofts.

Biit wait a bit. I was very n-ea-rTy forgrettin? the great Sir Sydney Smith, the lanJlady^s son, who, despite his small number of Inches and hig small kit of birds, has made the proudest fancier in Dunedin sing small on more than one occasion. He is without doubt t-he m<osfc .successful fancier in the colony for his age, and can boast of winning such races as Clarence River, 320 miles, when many bird's were lost : also first Ashburto-n and^ second Christ ohureß, aJI practically won' with one bird, the ev'efto- u e-rsrnembe~ed Ormonde, who. alas ! -went down in the Wellington race. Ormonde, if ever he turn* up. will hare a. great welcome from, ihisr yrmtMul owner, who spurns the idea of Ormonde being lost for ever. I*et us hope his faith will be rewarded by the prodigal turning up. At the time of my visit Master Smith had a few promising younig birds coming on, so &o doubt we

have not yet witnessed the last of bis luooeeses. He is »n apt pupil of Mr Finnegan's, and th-e way he keeps in* eye on that gentleman on the lookout for wrinkles is a treat to witness. My stay of four days at Sunwiek was all too short. I thoroughly enjoyed my chats with the proprietors of the two lofts, and feel that I can never hope to have the chance to repay the kindness shown to me by my Dunedin friends. I can resnre any_ fancier visiting Dunedin who calls at Sunwiek t^.at lie will have a really good time, see really good.Wr36, and be in the company of a xe&Hy -genuine fancier.