i was told many years ago by the late norman hodgson(nocker)from maryport, that if you went to a dance where there was a room full of woman you would pick the best looking girl there he also put his birds in the show basket(wicker)the night before filled with sawdust and not shavings as when the birds rested the droppings got covered and dried out in the sawdust, he also put a few sheets of newspaper under the lid, this to keep the heat, next morning he would put the basket in front of the coal fire for a couple of hours before the show,the condition on them was fantastic, this man won at all the big shows, i remember going to the then gretna show with him where he won 4 1sts.