CHAPTER IV. 



NEST BOWLS AND NESTS. 



Do Not Use the Old- Fashioned Nest Pans — Obvious Faults 

 of the Earthenware Nappy — The Wood- Fibre Nest Bowl 

 — How the Pigeons Choose Nest Boxes — What to Use for 

 Nesting Material — How the Birds Manage their Nests. 



For nest pans, do not use the heavy, deep, red clay, unglazed 

 dishes which you may see offered for sale as pigeon nests. 

 They are a relic of the past. 



In our early experience we used for a pigeon nest bowl 

 the common kitchen yellow earthenware nappy. We em- 

 ployed two sizes, the six-inch and the seven-inch, changing 

 from the large one to the small one when the squabs were 

 two weeks old. These earthenware nappies filled the bill in 

 being cheap and shallow, and the pigeons deposited their 

 manure in a circle outside and not inside the nest, but they 

 have faults which are obvious. They are flat and not round- 

 ing on the bottom. When the female pigeon turns the eggs 

 (as she does daily, same as a hen, in order to give the heat of 

 her body to the whole shell and to give fresh albumen to the 

 germ) the eggs are liable to roll apart, making it necessary 

 for the bird to gather them together again, and after two or 

 three mishaps like this she is liable to desert them. The 

 earthenware is cold, breakable and can be kept clean only 

 with water. The washing of the nappies becomes a tedious 

 task and is often neglected. In winter weather, the earthen- 

 ware dishes become so cold that one's fingers are numbed 

 by handling them — and the squabs which sit in them are 

 numbed, even frozen. 



Later we perfected a nest bowl made of wood which met 

 every objection raised against earthenware. We sold thou- 

 sands of them during the two years we had them on the market 

 and they gave good satisfaction except when some were 

 made of improperly seasoned lumber, in which case they 

 would crack and split after a few months' use. After study 

 and experiment to remove this objection, we had expensive 

 patterns and moulds made and began the manufacture of 



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