Along with the Brunner pouters, flying rollers, Chinese owls and Portuguese tumblers, Fred Herr of Willow Street had brought his Mini-Indian fantails to the old fire hall in Manchester, York County.

Hundreds of pigeons emerge from a slim opening in a backyard shed outfitted into a coop, their heads bobbing as their owner, Wilberto Aponte out, shoos them out, gruffly urging them to fly. In a ...