HOMING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 63

HOMING NOTES.

(By Maksta Mealy.)

The weather all last week was very bad for tossing birds, -yet some fanciers had their pigeons up the line. The experience will do the' pigeons a wonderful amount of good, which" the owners will find to their advantage should the birds in forthcoming races strike a bad day. Mr Finnegan had 11 to Glenavy, all homing after three hoxu-s' flying through rain, fog, and sou- wester. Messrs Cox, Burton, and Crawford also put \vp very fair performances from Glenavy and Herbert. ■ The Otago Junior Homing Club has now a dozen members, and meetings have been held weekly. A large basket hamper has been purchased, and training commences next Wednesday from Seacliff. The first raoe is from Palmerston. The ra,oes are all flock races. Master Syd. Smith is secretary. Six dozen rings were received from Christchuroh and distributed to the members. The longest raoe is from Christchurch. Dates are to be arranged so as not to clash with ihe Dunedin Homing Club's programme. Members will time each other's birds until the club has sufficient funds to purchase clocks. Great interest was taken in England last July in the faofc of Bordeaux having been flown to Northumberland, a distance of something like 735 miles. The bird was tossed with the Central Counties' Flying Club at Bordeaux at 4.40 a.m. on July 18, and 'timed in on July 21 at 12.46 p.m. —a- most creditable performance. It is admitted by nearly all the crack English fanciers that the English birds are superior to the Belgian, also that to Mr J. W. Logan the honour is due for this result. Mr Logan, who, by the way, is a member of the House of Commons, -first started keeping homers about thirty years back. After giving the English homer of that p&riod a thorough trial he arrived at the conclusion that he had not got what he wanted. About this time he became acquainted with N. Barker, an Englishman who had settled in Brussels, and who at the time had birds second to none in Belgium. Mr Logan, at a fabulous price, bought practically the entire loft of birds from this fancier, and among them Moutaubaun (by Old Pae ex Marica), 816 (sister to Montaubaun) and B5 Young Gladstone (by Old Pae ex Meakey). Montaubaun in three seasons twice won the Belgian Grand National, and won fifth prise with all pools in the third race. As a sire he will be for ever famous as the sire of Old 86. 816, although she had no performances, was a marvel for stock, and at the present time is is hard to find a crack worker without 816 being in many places in its ancestry. She bred Logan's 10b, a great worker, who begat Old 170, another remarkable worker whose descendants are numerous in the Langton lofts, with performances Marennes South, Lerwick North, that stamp tl% hall mark on them as workers of the highest calibre. 816 also bred No. 163, from whom J. J. Barrett's Rome is descended. From this latter bird comes Baker's wonderful stock pair 7 and 8 ; both have 163 in. their pedigrees. 816 is again prominent in those wonderful birds Successful, Old England, Dublin, and Perfection, birds that set at nought the terrors of the English Channel Besides the purchases from N. Barker, Mr Logan secured Debue I, a great winner, and Debue 11. from Debue of Uccle ; Hansennes No. 1, from Han»enne of Vervirs. a daughter of his famous Red : S4-1, from Soffli, of Antwerp; and N. 20 from Goosens. another Antwerp fancier. After great difficulty, he managed to get rhe fir^t bird back in the great Rome toss. This bird, known as Rome, «as a great acquisition to the British stock of homing pig-eons, and his blood is found to-day in such birds a? Victor. Little Wondor. Ironsides, Champion Albert and many others. Other

purchases by Mr Logan were Old Smal, the winner of second Toulouse; and the great Latini, a winner up to Auok, Spain. Thoso were the kinds of birds the English fancier took back to England. Small wonder that from such a foundation there sprung a great race of pigeons, which, reared and trained to face harder conditions, are to-day without equal in the flying world.

The Glenavy race resulted in President Reeves again winning with Welcome Jack. This must be a good bird, for he leaves his loft mates and comes away on his own. He is 'nearly a pure N. Barker, and was bred by his owner from parents purchased from Richards, Pahnerston North. Mr J. C. Short was second with a son of Arrow — a good performer, of Dr Macdonald'e strain, his dam being a Gerard hen. Mr Finnegan's Fireworks was third. This veteran last year flew in eight races and was placed in seven, including Wellington. He was bred by J. C. Short from Aorangi Barbelle, Macdonald strain. The parents are still in Mr Short's loft, both hale and hearty. Next Saturday a flock race will be flown from Ashburton, 151 miles air-line. From the Racing Pigeon: — I heard an excellent temperance story or lecture the other day. It is worth repeating, as an answer to the libel that pigeons lead to drink, gambling, etc. Some fanciers were speaking of the necepsity of pigeon men being '"early to ibed, early to ri?e," when another chimed in with, "Then there is not much time to booze." "No," replied one; "pigeons don't fly on drink." It is so: a successful working man pigeon-flyer has no money to waste and no time to waste. The birds want unremitting attention in his spare time, and good birds, good food, etc., cost money, and that is never in the pocket of the man whose hours are late. The Vicar of Whitwick tells of the help it has been to many amongsf whom he has worked to live soberly, this having a hobby, and none need be better than that of pigeonflying. He has often told of one man who became a respectable and respected member of a village Jie formerly lived in after he had found occupation for his leisure in his pigeons ; and years afterwards, when the poor fellow lay dying, r he sent for the person who had often timed in his birds — although this necessitated an all-day railway journey, — and the old fellow had some very good birds — very good, though not equal to the wonderful pigeon of Spa. N. Barker declares it to have been the best ever flown, and I should say ever likely to be flown. The tale is that the bird (a gay pied cock) always won. The owner was so confident of his ability that once he backed him to win a 500-mile race, and to show (not telegraph) the bird. This entailed bringing him from Spa to Brussels — a journey then taking some three hours, — but even .then the bird won. It should have left champion descendants, but, like many a good longdistance bird, it was not a breeder of good stock, and finally was lost. Send them often enough and they are lost; but they are intended for racing. therefore < must be sent. And after all, these champion longdistance birds are rarely champion stock birds.