• THE BREEDING OF PIGEONS
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Sin,—May I, through your columns, draw the attention of your readers to an insidious form of cruelty that has gradually become serious ? The breeding of pigeons for show purposes leads to no harm until it results, as it does now, in the creation of what can only be termed freaks or monstrosities.
The worst case is that of the Fantail Pigeon. No bird lover can fail to be shocked by the sight of some of the birds that now figure among the prizewinners at Pigeon Shows. With the head in the unnatural position which it now is it must be not only a strain, but a painful one, to reach its food, and its power of balance is upset, as is evidenced by the fact that such birds frequently fall backwards off their perches. Their flight, too, has become a lamentable burlesque of the free sweep of their ancestors—the wood pigeons.
If bird lovers would abstain from buying any birds that exhibit these deformities, they would go far towards encourag- ing the breeding of birds that can enjoy life naturally, and are once again things of beauty.—I am, Sir, &c.,
E. D. FAIRHOLIIII (Captain)
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