36 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 



a barn some two hundred feet long, turned the whole upper 

 story into a loft for pigeons. The flying pen takes in the 

 whole back of the barn. There are windows and no doors 

 on this side of the barn, the horses using doors on the other 

 side, so this leaves the upper story of the barn, and its whole 

 back-yard, free for the pigeons. 



FROft 



BfiCH 



V/£U/ 



HOW TO BUILD A TRAP TO CATCH MATES 



The trap is shown in position in the front of a nestbox one foot square. It is important 

 to use strips of leather for the hinges so as to get easy action. If metal hinges are used, 

 they work too hard for the birds to operate and also may rust and stick. The wire is the 

 ordinary No. 14 galvanized, such as the telephone and telegraph companies string from 

 pole to pole. 



It IS easy to make one of these traps in half an hour's leisure. Half a dozen or a 

 dozen_ should be made so as to get quick action in a flock of twenty-five pairs or more. 

 The size of the trap should be the size of your nestboxes. The two screws at the sides 

 make it easy to transfer from one nestbox to another as needed. 



When one bird pushes the wires and enters, it cannot get out, and its mate soon follows. 

 Then you have the pair securely caught and can band them at your leisure without dis- 

 turbing the other pigeons, or you can verify the bands already on the birds. The chasing 

 of pigeons with a net in the pen to catch pairs is a slow and wearisome task, whereas the 

 use of this trap is a pleasure. In managing pigeons it is always well to remember that 

 you cannot be sure of workers unless you know which the workers are. It is like a lot of 

 men and women working for you. If you had several married couples in your employ 

 and some of them shirked, you would hate to pay the shirkers. A flock of pigeons should 

 be managed with that thought in mind. Don't let the shirkers get by you and depend on 

 the workers for their support. Know what every pair is and what it is doing and then 

 you will be successful. 



