308 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap. xv. 



with great punctuality : from three or four 

 o'clock in the evening till nine the next day, 

 the female continues to sit, and is then re- 

 lieved by the male, while she is seeking her 

 food abroad ; but should she not return at the 

 appointed time, the cock seeks her out and 

 drives her to the nest; she also retaliating 

 in like manner upon him, if guilty of similar 

 neglect. When the nestlings are about a 

 fortnight or three weeks old, the female not 

 unfrequently begins to sit again ; leaving her 

 "squabs"— as those young things are then 

 called — to the care of her mate, who provides 

 them with food until able to leave their nest 

 and feed themselves, when they are termed 

 " squeakers ;" which name they retain until 

 they begin to coo, soon after which they 

 are strong enough to fly, and begin to breed 

 when about six months old. 



Dove-cotes were anciently attached as a 

 manorial right to the dwellings of great 

 landed proprietors, and cotes large enough to 

 contain several hundred pigeons may still be 

 seen adjoining many of the old mansions of 

 country gentlemen. Even now, a cote can only 

 be erected by a freeholder, or by permission 



