106 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



box in front of the nest. You do not need an alighting place. 



Question. Seems to me that if I start with forty-eight 

 pairs of birds, I ought to have ninety-six perches. Answer. 

 The birds do not all perch at the same time. While some 

 are perching, others are on the nests, or walking on the floor, 

 or are outside in the flying pen, or on the roof. Put up a few 

 perches where you have room and let it go at that. 



Question. I live in England; can you ship me twenty-four 

 pairs of your breeders? Answer. Yes; the transportation 

 charges will be four dollars. In addition you will have to pay 

 the butcher or steward of the boat ten shillings for feeding 

 and watering the birds. Send us six dollars and fifty cents 

 in addition to the regular price of the birds and we will ship 

 to you all charges prepaid. In shipping to Cuba and remote 

 points in the United States and Canada, we do not have to 

 pay anything extra for the feeding and watering of the birds; 

 the express charges include the feeding and watering. 



Question. What is a Runt pigeon? Please quote prices 

 on a dozen pairs of Runts. Answer. A Runt pigeon is a 

 special breed of pigeon, remarkable for its large size. They 

 come all colors, as a Homer does. The white Runts are an 

 exceptioilally beautiful bird and command large prices, as 

 high as six dollars to fifteen dollars a pair. The squabs which 

 Runts breed weigh from eighteen ounces to one and one-half 

 pounds at four weeks. If Runts bred as fast as Homers, they 

 would be just the bird for squab breeders, but they are 

 fatally slow in breeding, as a rule. The Homers raise two 

 pairs of squabs to the Runts' one. Therefore it^is of course 

 more profitable to raise Homers. We do not sell Runts and 

 do not advocate their use either as a separate breed, or 

 crossed up with Homers. The large, plump, thoroughbred 

 Homer is the best. 



Question. What is the difference between the Homer and 

 Antwerp breeds of pigeons? Answer. No difference. The 

 name is used interchangeably to apply to the same breed of 

 pigeon. In New England we speak of them mostly as 

 Homers. In some places they are called more often Antwerps. 



Question. Can I feed some of my squabs by hand if nec- 

 essary? Answer. Yes. Mix up a mushy, soft handful of 

 grain, hold the scj[uab in the left hand, close to your body, and 

 with the thumb and first finger of your right hand force the 



