52 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



the water. The reservoir holds quite a supply of water, 

 which feeds down as fast as it is drunk by the pigeons. We 

 have seen beginners puzzled by these self -drinking dishes; 

 they cannot imagine why the water does not all run out at 

 once by the bottom hole. It is a simple principle in hydraulics 

 which you may demonstrate to your own satisfaction by fill ng 

 an ordinary tumbler with water and then inverting it in a 

 saucer of water. There is no way for the air to get to the 

 inside of the tumbler except by passing under the rim at the 

 points where it touches the saucer, consequently it does not 

 flow down unless the water is removed from the saucer, and 

 then it ceases as soon as the water in the saucer rises ovei 

 the rim of the tumbler again. In fact, some self-drinkers 

 for poultry are made of two pieces of pottery exactly on the 

 principle of the tumbler and saucer. These fountains are not 

 so practical as the fountain which we illustrate, because a 

 pigeon can roost on the top of it and foul the saucer with its 

 droppings. In the fountain which we picture it is impossible 

 for droppings to reach the mouth containing the water, even 

 if the pigeon is perched directly on top of the fountain. The 

 barrel shape of the fountain makes it hard for more than one 

 pigeon to perch at the same time on its top, but one pigeon 

 usually is found there. He gets there, for the special purpose, 

 it seems, of fouling the water, but the fountain beats him 

 and he can't do it. Neither can he put his feet into the water 

 unless he is an extraordinary gymnast capable of holding his 

 body out at an angle to the perpendicular. The result is, 

 that in actual practice the water keeps clean, and there is a 

 supply of it ready about all the time. A fountain of a gallon 

 capacity will keep two or three dozen pairs of breeders supplied 

 all day. The fountain is filled by turning it on end and 

 pourintj water down into the opening. If you fill the fountain 

 at the same time you fill the bath pan in the morning, you 

 will have done your duty by the pigeons for the day. 

 ' Cleanse these fountains at least once CA'ery two weeks 

 with scalding hot water containing squab-fe-nol (pigeon 

 disinfectant; see our price-list for description). 



The best place for the bath pan is out in the yard of the 

 flying pen. A pan fifteen inches in diameter is right for a 

 flock up to twelve pairs of birds. The pan should be from 

 four to six inches deep, not over six inches, for a pigeon will 



