WOOD AND WASTE 165 



egg in the season. On the other hand, I 

 have got pigeons still in the nest at a 

 very late date, and, taking the first weeks 

 in November as the commencement of la}^- 

 ing, and supposing that the young are gone 

 by the second week of January, and further 

 supposing that the old birds build again at 

 once, there would still be time for a second 

 nest, the second youngster leaving it by 

 somewhere about the third week of March. 



Each of the nests containing egg or young 

 has been under the camera, and from them 

 much insight has been gained into the 

 pigeon's domestic arrangements and way of 

 life generally. We have found out what 

 excellent mothers the hens are, how seldom 

 the young require nourishment, the curious 

 m.ethod by which their wants are supplied 

 in the nest, the different notes of young 

 and old, and their extreme hardihood both 

 ill the shell and after hatching. 



The female pigeon when sitting is rather 

 more steadfast in her objections to leaving 

 her egg than the most broody old hen of 

 a fowl yard. Pecking the intruder's hand, 

 striking at him with her wings, and ''growl- 



