23 THE HOUSE OR LOFT. 



anotlier room, 10ft. by 12ft., fitted up with nesting places as 

 in 0, and lias a flight of 18ft. long, marked DD. 



There is a great advantage in having several compartments 

 in a pigeonry, for without them it will sometimes be found 

 almost impossible to unmatch certain pairs, when it is 

 desirable to do so. Besides the buildings shown, I have 

 several others for my birds, which, being outside the court, 

 cannot be shown on the plan. 



Earthenware or wood nest pans, of from Sin. to lOin. in 

 diameter, are used by some fanciers, but they are not required 

 in such nesting places as shown in Fig. 7. The method I adopt 

 is to spread sawdust to the depth of half an inch, and place 

 straw on it, which the birds form into a nest. There is a 

 danger of young birds falling out of nest pans and dying 

 of cold. In the breeding houses I have used sawdust over 

 the floor, to the depth of lin. or 2in., and have found it very 

 suitable. This, if passed through a riddle of ^in. mesh once 

 a week, will last for several weeks, but should be renewed 

 oftener if the place be troubled with insects. Pine sawdust 

 soon loses the pungent smell, which helps somewhat, though 

 not entirely, to drive away vermin. 



Cleaning Pigeon Houses. 



Unless pigeon houses are often cleaned out, the smell 

 arising from the dung soon becomes unpleasant. I clean out 



Fig. 8.— Steel Scraper. 



my own places every morning, and as, from their extent, the 

 time required for doing so is considerable, I have been obliged 



