38 THE PRACTICAL PIGEON KEEPER. 



own young, beginning with a kind of pap, or soft food, which is 

 secreted by the crops of both parents at the date of hatching. 

 It closely resembles curd in both appearance and composition, 

 so that the " pigeon's milk " so often ridiculed is no myth, but 

 a veritable product. It is pumped up by a kind of vomiting 

 action, and greedily swallowed by the young, who insert their 

 beaks into the mouth of the parent for the purpose. A young 

 pigeon's beak, by the way, is thick, soft, and fleshy in appear- 

 ance so long as the soft food lasts. By degrees half-digested 

 peas or other grain are mingled with the curd, until at last the 

 grain is fed pure, and only a little soaked in the crop. Here 

 will be seen the reason of a somewhat softer diet during the 

 breeding season, very old beans or peas obstinately refusing to 

 dissolve, and thus starving the young. If all goes well, how- 

 ever, the diet gradually becomes harder and harder, until the 

 young pigeon is able to pick up for itself. 



When the young thrive, they grow with a rapidity which is 

 amazing. You can in simple truth almost see the daily increase; 

 and if you cannot, something is wrong. The growth of a chick 

 is nothing to it. Mr. Dixon found a young pigeon to weigh as 

 follows : 



When hatched ounce. 



Sixth day . . . . 4 ounces. 



Seventh day . . . . 5f 



Ninth day 8J 



One month . . . 12 



The last weight exceeded that of the parent, and the figures are 

 veiy significant if we compare them with the weight of a 

 chicken of the same ages. Mr. Dixon accounts for such extra- 

 ordinary growth by the fact that the young pigeon is so help- 

 less as to be quiet all the time, and has two digestions at work 

 for it besides its own a reason which is no doubt true. Any 

 way, the fact leaves the fancier in no doubt how his birds are 

 getting on : they are either galloping on, or likely to " go home." 



