Breeding. 77 



on their own, and the consequence is that the 

 squeakers, having been used to receive their meals 

 from their parents, stand about waiting for the food 

 which Cometh not, and thus their growth and develop- 

 ment is checked. This does not happen when they 

 are taken away and placed in another loft. They are 

 out of sight, and out of mind of their parents, and 

 self-preservation being the first law of Nature they 

 soon set about feeding themselves. It sometimes 

 happens that when babes number two make their 

 appearance the parents not onl3^ refuse to feed babes 

 number one, but will so resent their presence that 

 they set about them, pecking tfhem with their beaks 

 and hitting them with their wings, and in this manner 

 do them serious injury. From this it will be seen that 

 for the sake of the parents, for the sake of the early 

 famil}^ and for the sake of the younger babes, it is 

 wise and prudent to have a nursery house to which all 

 young birds may be removed as succeeding nests come 

 round. 



A TIME FOR CARE AND CAUTION. 



The weaning time is an important period in the 

 lives of our young squeakers, and under the ver>^ best 

 of conditions they not only do not make headway for 

 a few days, but they go backwards, and lose ground 

 somewhat. This, however, may be minimised to some 

 considerable extent by their owner constituting him- 

 self foster parent for a few days if necessary. For a 

 few days, sometimes, the novelty of their new phase 

 of life seems to prevent the squeakers from feeding 

 as they should do. Should this .happen, their owner 

 must resort to hand-feeding in the manner I described 

 in a previous chapter. 



This, too, is the time when those splendid aids to 

 Pigeon culture, Woods' Nutrisules, are of the greatest 

 l)enefit. At this time more than any other are they 

 of service to the rearer of high-class squeakers, and 

 many a life will they save if gi^-en two or tliree times 

 a day. Many and mamy a future challenge cup winner 

 has "owed its life to them, and the fact that they are 

 used by many of our leading fanciers in all varieties 



