■LAYING AND HATCHING 69 



were put on arrival, then can be used for the rearing pen for 

 youngsters raised in the breeding pen. 



In case a pigeon loses its mate by death or accident, the sex 

 of the dead one must be ascertained. The live one should be 

 removed from the pen and placed in the mating coop with a 

 pigeon of the opposite sex. 



The mating coop should have a partition of lattice work or 

 wire. Place the cock in one side, the hen in the other, and 

 leave them thus for two or three days to flirt and tease each 

 other, then remove the central lattice work or wire and they 

 usually will pair, or mate. If they show no disposition to 

 pair but on the contrary fight, replace the partition and try 

 them for two or three days longer. If they refuse to pair 

 after two or three thorough trials, do not experiment any 

 more with them, but select other mates. 



The determination of the sex of pigeons is difficult. The 

 bones at the vent of a female are as a rule wider apart 

 than of a_male. If you hold the beak of a pigeon in one 

 hand and the feet in the other, stretching them out, the 

 male bird usually will hug his tail close to its body, — ^the 

 female will throw her tail. The best way to determine the sex 

 is to watch the birds. The male is more lively than the 

 female, and does more cooing, and in flirting with her usually 

 turns around several times, while the female seldom turns 

 more than half way around. The male may be seen pecking 

 at the female and driving her to nest. When one pigeon is 

 seen chasing another inside and outside the squab house, 

 the driven one is the female and the driver her mate. 



Neither the squab breeder nor the flying-Homer breeder 

 is much concerned about the color of feathers. There are 

 blue checkers, red checkers, black checkers, silver, blue, 

 brown, red, in fact about all the colors of the rainbow. Color 

 has no relation to the ability of a pair to breed a large pair of 

 squabs. We wish specially to emphasize the fact that the 

 color of the feathers has no influence on the color of the skin 

 of the squab. A white feathered bird does not mean a white- 

 skinned squab. The feed affects the color of the meat a little. 

 A corn-fed pigeon will be yellower than one fed on a mixture. 

 Squabs with dark skins (almost black in some cases) are the 

 product of blood matings. The trouble with a dark-colored 

 squab is in the blood and the only remedy is to get rid of them 



