National Standard Squab Book. 73 



He mounts the female in a manner which is called "treading." A female 

 occasionally will "tread" the male bird, exactly as a female animal when 

 in excessive hvat sometimes will mount the male, or another female. Cus- 

 tomers who had what they thought was a doubtful pair sometimes have 

 written us saying that each would tread the other, and that of course 

 both were males. After a while the same customer would write and say 

 that the pair fooled him and that he had two eggs from them. The 

 actions are in nine cases out of ten, of course, a positive guide, but there 

 are exceptions to every rule. 



Question. (1) The legs of the pigeons you sent me are red; are they 

 inflamed? (2) The droppings are soft and mushy; I am afraid they have 

 diarrhoea; what shall I do? (3) Most of my pigeons have a warty-like 

 substance on their bills, varying in size with the pigeon; how shall I get 

 rid of it? Answer. (1) The red color which you see is perfectly natural. 

 The legs of all Homer pigeons are red. (2) The natural droppings of the 

 pigeon are soft and somewhat h)Ose. When they have diarrhoea the drop- 

 pings are exti'emely watery and the tail feathers are soiled. Your pigeons 

 are all right and have no diarrhoea. ([<) The growth of which you speak 

 is perfectly natural. It varies in size with the pigeon, sometimes covering 

 the base of the bill, in other cases clinging closely to it. 



Question. Can I figure with certainty that of each pair of squabs which 

 my birds hatch, one is a male and the other a female? Answer. Not with 

 absolute certainty, but as a rule. It is Nature's way to provide for an 

 €qual number of males and females, for that is the way the species mate 

 and is I'eproduced. 



Question. Enclosed find $10, for which please send me settings of pigeon 

 eggs to that value, and send me the balance due, if any. Answer. We do 

 not sell pigeon eggs. It is impossible to use an incubator and raise pigeons 

 successfully, because there is no way of feeding the young squabs when 

 they are hatched. The life of squabs is nourished and prolonged from 

 Jay to day by Ihe parent birds, which feed them. To raise squabs, you 

 must start *y buying the adult breeders. You cannot start with the eggs. 



Question. It seems to me that if each pair of .squabs hatched consists 

 of male and female, that this couple is likely to pair when grown, being 

 well acquainted with each other. This would be inbreeding and would 

 weaken my flock. What shall I do? Answer. It is not the plan of the 

 species to mate and inbreed like this. If brother and sister mated as you 

 describe, the species would be extinct after a while. They will look for 

 new mates as soon as they get out of the nest and are of breeding age. 



Question. When are the young pigeors old enough to mate? Answer. 

 Prom four to six months. 



Question. My birds do not know enough to go in from the roof of the 



squab house wlien it rains. How shall I get them in? An.swer. Let them 



stay "on the roof in the rain if they wish. The rain will do them no harm. 



Question. Must I heat the squab house in the winter time? Answer. 



