PIGEON-TRAPS. 
45 
are intended; a small tile or flat piece of wood should be placed in front of 
the pan or basket, to assist the birds in getting out of their nests, and the 
pan should have a little clean straw or hay cut short within it. Sand or 
gravel should be sprinkled over the shelves and about the spot, as the 
small stones with which it abounds are useful to the birds in helping them 
to digest their food. Every thing about the birds should be kept very clean, 
and once a year the whole apparatus, of whatever kind it may be, should 
undergo a thorough purification, and the nest-pans or boxes should be well 
cleaned for every succeeding hatching. Care should also be taken to pre¬ 
vent other birds from visiting their nests, as they will suck or destroy their 
eggs. 
PIGEON-TRAPS. 
Pigeon-traps are necessary when persons are particularly solicitous re¬ 
garding the admixture, and consequently the sporting of particular breeds. 
Stray birds will very frequently visit pigeon-houses, and, by associating 
with the birds, do them much injury. To se¬ 
cure such intruders, traps are necessary. One 
of the simplest is merely a square box of lath, 
the top part of which hangs nicely suspended 
by a hinge at its side, from which is carried a 
projection called the lever, upon the end of which is fastened a piece of 
lead. The bird alights on the dark spot, which part of the trap falls, and 
conveys him into the interior of the cage in which the bait is placed. The 
balance weight of the lever immediately shuts the cage, and the bird is 
secured. 
There is another contrivance of great use, which is employed for letting 
in those birds who may not happen to come home before the aeries are 
closed for the night. The object of this door, which ought to be called the 
“ late door,” is to let the out birds in without letting the in birds out. It is 
made by placing before a square aperture cut 
in the pigeon-house a couple of wires, about 
three inches apart from each other (as seen in 
the drawing), upon a piece of wood, having 
a swivel-hinge (a) above, and letting their 
lower ends come over the lower ledge or sill 
(b) on the inside of the dove-house. By this 
arrangement, when the late bird presses against 
the bars, and tries to get in, the whole opens 
inward, and he easily enters ; but if a bird from within tries to get out, the 
wires press against the side of the sill at the bottom, and effectually pre¬ 
vent his egress. The call, by which pigeons are enticed into their trap or 
house after they have been indulged with a flight, is a very shrill, loud, and 
prolonged whistle. They should be trained to come at this call invariably 
before they are fed. 
-I"l 1 into 1 
