OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. 247 



possible to visit all the nests in the house, without the 

 least difficulty, which cannot be so easily done in a 

 house of the square form. And in order to hinder 

 rats from climbing up the outside of it, the wall should 

 be covered with tin-plates to a certain height, as about 

 a foot and a half, which should project out three or 

 four inches at the top, to prevent their getting up 

 more effectually. A common mode in France, is to 

 raise a boarded room, on a strong post, powerfully 

 braced, the interior sides of which are lined with 

 boxes for the birds, and the exterior, east and west 

 sides, with balconies or sills for them to alight on and 

 enter to their boxes. The north and south sides are 

 lined with boxes inside, but without openings, as being 

 too cold on the one front and too warm on the other. 



" The interior of the pigeon-house must be lined 

 with nests or holes, subdivided either by stone, as in 

 the ancient mural pigeon-houses ; by boards, or each 

 nest composed of a vase or vessel of earthenware fixed 

 on its side. Horizontal shelves, divided vertically at 

 three feet distance, are generally esteemed preferable 

 to every other mode ; the width of the shelf may be 

 twenty inches, the height between shelf and shelf 

 eighteen inches; and a slip of board three or four 

 inches high is carried along the front of the partitions 



