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AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



It takes seventeen days' incubation for pigeon's e'^gs to liatch. 



Pigeons build their own nesis, like birds, canying the straws 

 to the nest one by one, and placing them in order with their 

 bills. 



The male pigeon carries the nesting material to the female 

 and she sets on the nest and arranges the straws in place. 



The male, as well as the female pigeon, sets on the eggs. The 

 male relieves the female on the nest from about 10 to 4 each 

 day, and the female sets on the eggs the balance of the time. 



PAIR OF SQUAB BREEDING HOMERS 



Pigeons continue to set on t]ie nest for several days after the 

 young hatch out, to keep them from chilling. This is necessary- 

 even in warm weather. 



Most pigeons lay and raise young the year around, laymg 

 again each time when their young are about two and one-half 

 weeks old. 



Pigeons feed their young by first eating grain and drinking 

 water, then they fly to the nest and by a pumping or belching 

 motion the feed is transferred to the crop of the young. 



Until a squab is several days old, it is too young to swallow 

 regular food, so the old birds feed them pigeon milk, a peculiar 

 mixture that accumulates in the crops of the old birds after 

 they have set on eggs 16 days. 



