CHAPTER IV. 



THE NAPPIES AND NESTS. 



Do Not Use the Old-Fasliioued Nest Pans— The Six-Inch and Seveu-Inoh 

 Nappies of Earthenware — Obvious Faults of the Earthenware Nappy— 

 A Perfect Device Found in tlie AVood Filn-e Nest-Bowl, AVhicli tlie 

 Birds "Take to"— How the Pigeons Choose Nest Boxes. 



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

 kitchen yellow earthenware nappy. We employed two sizes, the six-inch 

 and the seven-inch, changing from the large one to the small one when tlie 

 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 ob- 

 vious. They are flat and not rounding on the bottom and Avhen the female 

 pigeon turns the eggs (as she does daily, same as a hen, in lu'der to give 

 the heat of her body to the whole shell) the eggs are liable to roll apart, 

 nniking 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 earthen- 

 ware is cold, breakable and can be kept clean only with water. The wash- 

 ing of the nappies becomes a tedious task and is often neglected. 



Later we perfected a nest-bowl made of wood which met every objection 

 raised against the earthenware. "We sold thousands of them during the 

 two years we had them on the market and the.v gave good satisfaction ex- 

 cept when some were made of improperly-seasoned lumlier, in which case 

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

 periment to remove this objection, we had expensive patterns and moulds 

 nnide and began the manufacture of these bowls out of wood fibre. Their 

 success was qnickl.v demonstrated and now we sell nothing else. These 

 wood-fibre nest-bowls have all the advantages of the wood bowls and at the 

 same time are practically indestructible, cannot warp or split. The wood 

 fibre of which they are nnide is thick and exceedingly tough, being solidified 

 under many tons' pressure. After making they are treated with an odor- 

 less, anti-moisture compound and then baked to flint-like hardness. We 

 sell these wood filire nest^bowls in one size only, nine inches in diameter. 

 Price, eight cents each, 96 cents per dozen, $11.52 per gross. Prompt ship- 

 ment from Boston same day order is received, in any quantity. No order 



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