Id 
CHAPTER III. 
THE PIGEON LOFT. 
The peculiar habits of Pigeons have, of course, to be studied, in considering the accommodation 
to be provided for them. Unlike fowls, they pair and bring up their own young until old enough 
to feed themselves ; and unlike the majority of birds, they breed so often and so rapidly throughout 
the season, that the hen generally lays and commences to sit again before the young ones are able 
to dispense altogether with parental care, which is accordingly continued to them by the cock-bird, 
who is in this and other respects “a perfect model” of a father, and who attends to the young 
while the hen broods over the new eggs. All this will be more fully described in our next chapter, 
on the General Management of Pigeons ; and we are only so far concerned with it here, that it 
may be clearly seen how the very nature and whole habits of the birds demand for each pair a 
Fig. i. — N esting Boxes. 
double breeding-place or nest-box. This rule is in fact universal : from the largest “ dovecote,” 
tenanted by scores of the commonest pigeons, to the most carefully planned accommodation for 
the most valuable birds, a double nesting-place for every pair of breeding birds is the fundamental 
condition for their comfort and thriving. 
Such nesting-places admit, of course, many variations in construction, and we will describe 
first of all the very best arrangement known to us, and of which we have learnt the advantages by 
experience during many years. It is clearly represented in Fig. I, which shows three of these 
breeding-boxes, each of which is two feet wide. These are meant to be set on the ground ; and the 
hole by which the birds enter is eight inches from the floor at the bottom, and is furnished with 
a small landing. From the centre of its lower side runs a low partition, dividing the nest-box into 
two boxes of a foot square ; and along the top of this partition is nailed a strip of wood three 
inches wide, to furnish a perch or landing between the boxes, the partition thus resembling in 
section the letter T- The two compartments will then be used in the following manner : — When 
the first pair of young ones are old enough to be left to the care of the father, the lien will 
go over into the other (in which the owner should take care to have provided another nest-pan) 
and lay her eggs there. She will then be able to sit quite undisturbed while the cock feeds the 
