256 



SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



into separate apartments, where the pigeons may sit in 

 privacy. They seldom take the trouble to make nests 

 of their own, and therefore a basket, or an unglazed 

 earthen pan, about three inches high and large enough 

 conveniently to hold a pigeon and her young, is usu- 

 ally put in each nesting-place. The hen lays only two 

 eggs, but when they are hatched she will lay the same 



THE TURTLE-DOVE. 



number again, and hatch eight or nine times in the 

 season. The duty of sitting is shared equally between 

 the cock and hen, except that the hen always sits by 

 night. The cock also helps to feed the young. Pigeons 

 secrete a milky fluid in the crop, commonly called " soft 

 meat." This only appears when they are breeding, and 

 is a provision for the early nourishment of the young. 



