Birds Pigeons 
next day. Then her mate takes his turn, and sits 
until afternoon. The period of incubation is seven- 
teen days from the laying of the first egg. The 
parents are very devoted during this period, and 
remain near each other excepting when gathering 
food. 
The little squab chips its own way out of its shell. 
It is covered with yellow down, and is blind and by 
no means pretty. The parents begin to feed the 
squabs about three or four hours after they are 
hatched. To meet this need the stomachs of both 
parents producea cheesey substance known as pigeon 
milk. The parent takes the beak of the young bird 
in its own, and pumps into the stomach of the young- 
ster this very nutritious food. After about five days, 
this food is replaced by grain, which is softened in 
the stomach of the parent. The squabs do not grow 
much until they are about five days old; when seven 
days old the pin-feathers appear. When three 
weeks old the squab can walk, but is not able to feed 
itself until it is five weeks old. 
CARE 
The pigeon drinks differently from other birds. 
It has throat muscles so that it can thrust its beak 
down into the water, and suck it up, as does the 
horse, while other birds take a mouthful of the 
water, and lift the head and let gravity carry it to 
the stomach. Pigeons must have plenty of clean 
water. If they are allowed their liberty they usu- 
ally find this in some pond or stream, but in confine- 
ment fresh water in shallow zinc pans should be giv- 
en twice a day. The best arrangement of all is to 
pipe the water into the fly, so that it constantly drips 
186 
