2 5 6 



OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



place and handled in transportation. Then there are the crumbs 

 and remnants of food thrown from windows by innumerable 

 people who carry their lunches when they go to their work ; 

 and besides these a great deal of waste food from the occupants 

 of tenements, as well as from many hotel and restaurant kitchens. 

 Much of this is thrown out at random, but often, when pigeons 

 begin to frequent places where food supplies are regular, the 

 people there take an interest in the birds and throw out more 

 than they did before. From all these various sources an abun- 

 dance of food is 

 available for birds 

 that forage on the 

 city streets. 



The pigeons do 

 their part in saving 

 this waste food, but 

 the people derive 

 little benefit from 

 the saving, because 

 so many pigeons 

 are not kept under 

 control, where their 

 produce may be 

 taken and used when it is ready. Good management of pigeons 

 consists in keeping them so that the owner gets all the benefits 

 of ownership. Good management in the large sense requires 

 that all pigeons shall be owned by some one who is respon- 

 sible for them, and who keeps them under full control or under 

 partial control, as the circumstances in each case require. 



Size of flock. A flock of breeding pigeons may contain as 

 many pairs as can nest in the place where they are kept. Most 

 pigeon keepers prefer lofts about 12 or 14 feet square, because 

 in larger spaces it is harder to catch the birds when they must 

 be handled, and in many ways the very large flock makes extra 



FIG. 207. House and fly for a small flock 



