BASKETS MEAT-BOX WATER-BOTTLE. 147 



others. A trap of another description, and for a 

 very different purpose, is sometimes used ; it is an 

 area, on the outside of a building, for the purpose 

 of confining in the air valuable breeds of pigeons 

 which cannot be trusted to flight. Some are erected 

 to the extent of twenty yards long and ten yards in 

 width, with shelves on every side for the perching 

 of the pigeons ; thus they are constantly exercised 

 in the air, retiring at their pleasure to the room or 

 loft within. 



Very convenient BASKETS are now made of the 

 cradle form, with partitions, or separate apartments. 

 They serve for the carriage of pigeons for match- 

 ing, or putting them up to fatten, or for any of the 

 usual purposes. I have seen them lately, in the 

 basket-shops on the Greenwich road, two or three 

 miles from London. 



FOOD and WATER should be given in such way, as 

 to be as little as possible contaminated with the ex- 

 crement, or any other impurity. Our pigeons hav- 

 ing been constantly attended, we have never found 

 the need of any other convenience than earthen 

 pans ; but there have been ingenious inventions for 

 this purpose, of which the MEAT-BOX and WATER- 

 BOTTLE following are specimens. The meat-box is 

 formed in the shape of a hopper, covered at the 

 top to keep clean the grain, which descends into a 

 square shallow box. Some fence this with rails or 

 holes on each side, to keep the grains from being 

 scattered over ; others leave it quite open that the 

 young pigeons may the more easily find their food. 



The WATER-BOTTLE is a large glass bottle, with a 

 H 2 



