THE PIGEON 139 



food is a pap of seeds all ground up fine in the crop ; 

 but for the first three or four days after hatching a 

 special food is given, fine and strengthening, suited 

 to the weakness of the little one. It is a white sub- 

 stance, almost liquid, having the appearance of real 

 milk. It does not come entirely from digested food ; 

 for the most part it consists of a sort of milkfood 

 that is distilled by the stomach on this occasion only. 

 So for the first days of the brood 's rearing the pi- 

 geons have, deep down in the throat, a sort of milk 

 factory, or what one might call the equivalent of an 

 udder." 



' l That reminds me," Jules interposed, "of a joke 

 common enough among us fellows. When we want 

 to gull some poor innocent, we tell him that pigeons 

 suck. This jest comes nearer the truth than is com- 

 monly thought. Pigeons do not suck the breast, 

 it is true, but it might well enough be said that they 

 are suckled, since what they are fed on has so much 

 resemblance to milk." 



i ' Little pigeons stay in the nest a long time, ' ' re- 

 sumed Uncle Paul. ' ' Entirely covered with feathers 

 and almost as large as their parents, they still con- 

 tinue to receive parental care. To induce them to 

 shift for themselves and give up their place when the 

 time for a new laying approaches, some cuffs have 

 to be given to these spoiled children that are so re- 

 luctant to leave home. But at last they consent, 

 though not without returning from time to time to 

 torment the mother with their lamentations and to 

 beg her for something to eat. The father, less weak 



