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 heat 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 tuo 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 perfectiy natural. 
The legs of all Homer pigeous are red. (2) The natural droppings of the 
pigeon are soft and somewhat loose. When they have diarrhoea the drop- 
pings are extremely watery and the tail feathers are soiled. Your pigeons 
are all right and have no diarrhoea. (3) The growth of which you speak 
is perfectly natural. It varies iu 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 
wy 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 
equal number of males and females, for that is the way the species mate 
and is reproduced. 
Question. PEnclosed 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 
day to day by the parent birds, which feed them. To raise squabs, you 
must start by 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. 
From four to six months. 
Question. My birds do not know enough to go in from the roof of the 
squab house when it rains. How shall I get them in? Answer. 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. 
