20 



them. In practice, boards one foot wide on which cleats 

 one inch square are nailed across one foot apart are set 

 against the wall and firmly secured, the edge being to the 

 wall, of course. This leaves the cleats opposite each other. 

 Then boards one foot square are cut and laid on these cleats. 

 When the work is done, we have a series of nests one foot 

 every way, each shelf forming the bottom of a nest and the 

 top of the one under it. If nappies are not used, a cleat 

 should be nailed on the front edge of the shelves in order 

 that the nesting material will not be worked out by the birds. 

 Nests made in this way are very easily cleaned, as the shelves 

 may be drawn out and cleaned without trouble. 



NAPPIES. 



Nappies are earthen dishes of a peculiar shape which are 

 made for pigeon nests. The shape of them is shown in the 

 illustration showing squabs at various ages. These nappiei 

 are used by a great many pigeon-breerfers, but we have not 

 found them necessary as the birds are perfectly able to build 

 their own nests and will do so if the nest boxes are provided. 



Where only a few pairs of birds are kept, we have seen 

 boxes used for nest boxes. Boxes about the size of orange 

 boxes are used, these being divided into two compartments' 

 and fastened to the wall by nails driven through the bottom, 

 We recommend that regular nests be provided as they give 

 a neater appearance to the lofts and are more easily cleaned, 



NESTING MATERIAL. 



A good supply of nesting material should be provided for 

 the pigeons. This may be short straw, or coarse hay in 

 short lengths, but the best material is tobacco stems which 



