262 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



Handling pigeons. When a few pigeons in a small loft get a 

 great deal of attention, they usually become very tame and allow 

 themselves to be caught at any time. For catching pigeons that 

 are shy, pigeon keepers use a net, called a landing net, such as 

 is used by fishermen. A pigeon is held securely in the hand by 

 grasping it so that the breast of the bird lies in the palm and 

 one wing is held against the side by the thumb and the other by 

 the fingers. A pigeon may also be carried by the tips of the 

 wings by bringing them together over the back and letting the 

 bird hang by them. 



Mating pigeons. The beginner's first serious difficulty in breed- 

 ing pigeons is to get the birds in his loft all mated and each 



pair attending to 

 the work of hatch- 

 ing and rearing its 

 young. As has been 

 said, the sexes can- 

 not always be identi- 

 fied by appearance. 



M St f the 



Fie. 2,3. Small pigeon house and fly 



sold for breeding 



are young birds that have not yet mated. Some breeders and 

 dealers are very expert in selecting males and females, but all 

 make some mistakes, and the average person makes a great many 

 of them. There are two ways of selling pigeons. The most com- 

 mon way is to sell the desired number of birds, the seller select- 

 ing, according to his best judgment, equal numbers of males and 

 females, with the understanding that if, when the birds mate, 

 there is an excess of one sex, he will make a suitable exchange. 

 The other way is to sell the number of pairs desired, guaran- 

 teeing them as mated pairs which means that the pairs are 

 all known to be properly mated. The advantage of buying 

 guaranteed mated pairs is that the question of mating requires 

 no further attention at the outset, but the prices for them are 



