^S National Standard Squab Book, 



Till"' iip-t I'lixos slinnl.l lip irori'pctly plain, mi<i]v nl' simple boxing- in llie 

 iiiainii'i- (IpserilK'il. I>o not Imild up a piece of l)Oxing at tlie front part of 

 tlie nest to prevent tlie nappy from being pushed out. Early in our ex- 

 lierience Ave liuiit a few nests ill tliis way, but soon elianged tliem over to 

 llie simpler fnrin, nn aeeonnt nf tbe diflicnlty of keeping tlieiii clean. Tlie 

 droppings bank np at tlie fnnit of such a nest box and it is almost impos- 

 sible to clean tliornnglily. 



The diinensiiins of tiiis nnit srpiab house are as follows: Length. 16 feet; 

 Avidtli, 12 feet; length of Hying pen from end of house to eiiil of yard, 20 

 feet: di'^tance from thioi- of si;'iab house to ridgepole, 12 feet; two winilows 

 in siniiii wail of sonab house, each 2 ft, 2 in. wide and 3 ft. 10 in. high. One 

 Avindow in north wall of sipiab house, 2 ft. 2 in. wide and 3 ft. 10 in. high. 

 Till re is a passageway on the north side of the sijuab house three feet 

 «ide, separating the north wall from the vertical roAv of nest boxes. The 



d ■ of ilii> sionih lionsc oiiens into this passageway so that you can enter 



the 1: inse without being seen liy the birds, and without disturbing them. 

 The barks ot ihe nest boxes are on hinges, so that you may turn them 

 bai'Ic and reach into the nests to take out tlie sipiabs when they are ready 

 for the marl;ct. If ymi wish, you may set np rows of nest boxes on tlie 

 east and \vest walls of the siinab house and accommodate 50 more paii'.s. 

 'ion roiiiint have a passageway iieliind the.se nest boxes on the east and 

 west walls, but •Hill ;i|Miroach them from the front liy entering the interior 

 of tlie sipiab honsi' tln'ougli a wire door \yliich leads from the passa.geway. 

 So, altogciher, yon can ,acconiniodate nearly 100 pairs of Viirds in such a 

 unit house. In order not to croAvd, it is best to put in not more than 75 

 pairs. 



Build the irst unit so that v'ou may extend it either to the east or west 

 (as your land lies) to increase your accommodations. Your scpiali house 

 will always remain 16 feet from north to south, but it may be either 12 

 feet from east to west, for one nnit, or 24 feet fcu' two units, or 36 feet for 

 three units, and so on. We think it is most [iractical to keep about 4S 

 ]iairs of hirds in one unit, IS pairs in the next unit, and so on. Of course 

 you may build one loim- house f6 feet wide and in length any multiple of 

 twelve, and keep all the birds you wish in it, but we do not advise such 

 an arrangement. You can keep track of yonr pairs better if yuti split a 

 big flock up into unit lloeks. 



The hinged backs of the nest boxes open into a pair of nest bo.;es. By 

 nnmbering tlie hinged backs, one number to a nest, .yon have a means of 

 reord keeping which is unerpialed. Provide a card index (the cards be- 

 ing blank and 3 by "■ inches in size) and number the cards to correspond 

 with the nest boxes, and on these cards you may keep a record of what 

 the hirils in the nest boxes do. These cards, AAhieh are perfectly blank 

 cxcciit for the nninbers they bear, may be kejit in a tray such as all the 

 mannfactiirers of card indexes advertise in the back pages of the maga- 

 zines and yon can picl; out any card yon wisli, or turn to it, at once. It 

 is much l.ietter than keeping a record in a book, for you cannot tear out 



