200 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 29, 1858. 
PIGEONS. 
(Continued from page 170.) 
MANAGEMENT OF PIGEONS. 
A water-bottle, or fountain, is also necessary for a supply 
of clean water, for the Pigeons to drink. These are of various 
; forms, but I prefer those of earthen or stoneware. 
Wooden or earthen nest-pans are much used by fanciers 
for the Pigeons to build in ; but I prefer the nest to be made 
of well-planed and painted wood, in which the Pigeons build 
their own nests of heath or birch twigs. 
A hoe, or scraper, on a long handle, and a short-handled 
scraper, with a convex side, for scraping out the nest pans, 
are also requisites for the well-kept pigeonary. 
PAIRING AND BREEDING OF PIGEONS. 
To breed fancy Pigeons to a standard of perfection, and to 
keep the Toys ot good feather, some attention is necessary to 
their pairing, as they should not be allowed to match pro¬ 
miscuously, or, where many varieties are kept, worthless 
mongrels will be the result. 
The first thing requisite, is for the fancier to discriminate 
between the sexes. A person accustomed to Pigeons will 
generally distinguish the cocks from the hens, by taking them 
m His hand and looking at their heads. The cock has a 
stouter beak, is iuller about the cheeks, and thicker necked, 
than the hen ; but, where many sorts are kept, their difference 
of form makes this a very difficult task, and requires consider¬ 
able practice to tell the sex at a glance; though, in a dovecot, 
w r here all the birds are of one stamp, it is comparatively easy, 
as any bird that is doubtful may be put aside at once. Among 
fancy Pigeons, it, therefore, requires a more certain test. The 
cock s breastbone is longer than the hens ; her vent bones are 
set wider apart; but this, also, varies with age. The coo of 
the cock is also louder, and more sonorous, than that of the 
hens, which is shorter, and somewhat hurried in manner; 
neither does the hen generally coo so much as the cock. Lastly, 
their gestures are the most certain signs. Place the doubtful 
bird in the matchmg-pen, away from all others, for a few days, 
till it gets tolerably used to its new abode, which will much 
depend upon the bird’s being wild or tame. Secrete yourself 
where you may not be noticed, if the bird is wild, but where you 
can see its manners and movements ; then introduce a merry 
cock, who will at once play up to the stranger, and, if a hen, she 
will acknowledge his advances by the twinkling of her eyes, 
nodding her head, an action of the throat as if swallowing 
s lghtly fluttering her wings, and, as she moves before him, 
making a curtsey, at the same time raising the shoulders of the 
wings, and slightly spreading her tail. On the other hand, if a 
cock, a battle will most likely be the result, from which the later- 
introduced bird generally tries to escape. In this case, remove 
mm, and put in a hen, to which, if he is at all inclined to mate, 
he will at once play up in a merry tone, bowing his head, ! 
sweeping the ground with his spread tail, and sometimes 
spinning round and round, or jumping after her. The sex 
being determined, introduce the slide, and place the birds, in- 
en e to be coupled, in the matching-pen, one in each 
division ; feed them well, giving a little hempseed, and allow 
• 16m f ? ^ acquainted, lor a day or two ; otherwise the cock 
is ap o eat the lien too severely, and it sometimes happens 
the hen will master the cock, in which case pairing becomes a 
tedious affair. When the birds are paired, place them in the 
pen, m the pigeon-liouse you wish them to take to, and close 
them in till they are accustomed to it; or, if it be desirable 
they should occupy any particular nest, this may be effected 
by placing them there, keeping them confined to it for a few 
days, by means of a lattice frame or box, through which they 
can see the rest of the loft, or house, and learn its position. 
They may then be allowed to join the other Pigeons ; but, if 
new comers, they should not be trusted to fly out till they 
have been allowed to go into the trap for three days, to learn 
the way in and out, and see its position. 
Tame Pigeons may generally be let out with others in three 
or four days ; but wilder ones will require a fortnight, to wean 
them from their old abode. Flying kinds are very difficult to 
settle in a new home. 
About a fortnight after pairing, the hen generally lays. 
When paired, the cock will enter the nest, and, calling in a 
deep, hollow tone, the hen will join him. Having there coo’d 
their ideas to each other for a time, till they have come to 
an understanding, the cock then struts forth, and proceeds to 
search for materials to build the nest: these he carries in his 
bill, and delivers them to the hen to dispose of to her liking. 
As laying approaches, the cock follows his mate with con¬ 
siderable anxiety, driving her from place to place. The first 
egg is usually laid in the after-part of the day, over which 
the hen stands at night, and, sometimes, during the day also. 
Then, omitting one day, the second egg is laid about noon, 
on the third day, when incubation commences; the hen 
sitting from four or five in the evening, all night, till nine or 
ten in the morning, when the cock relieves her. While she 
goes out to feed and exercise, he continues to take his turn 
daily, from nine or ten o’clock in the morning till four or five 
in the evening. Should the hen be killed, the cock generally 
forsakes the nest the second night. If the cock is missing, 
the hen will usually sit for three days, and then give up. The 
time of incubation is between sixteen and seventeen days, 
counting from when the last egg was laid. At hatching, both 
parents are provided, in their crops, with soft meat (alias 
pigeon’s milk),—a sort of pap, prepared from the food they 
eat,—with which they feed their young by taking the young 
one’s beak in their own. The parent retches, or vomits, this 
soft food into the young one’s mouth, which instinctively 
opens its bill for the purpose, and is thus enabled to 
swallow it. 
The young, at first, are ugly, helpless, almost naked, i 
little things; but, being kept warm by the parents, and 
well fed, grow very fast; and, as they gain strength, the 
soft meat becomes less prepared, till they receive the food 
from the old birds almost in the same state as they eat it. 
The hen continues for some time to brood them at night; 
but ere they leave the nest, she is generally occupied again 
with eggs: hence arises the necessity of allowing each pair 
a couple of nests, because Pigeons take a portion of the house j 
as their own, and defend it against all comers. Consequently, 
if the place is over-stocked, frequent quarreling, and the 
destruction of eggs, and young ones, is the consequence; - 
while those that are not fortunate enough to obtain lodgings, 
must drop their eggs on the floor, or in some nest they will 
not be allowed to tenant. 
In breeding fancy Pigeons, great care must be taken to match 1 
the birds advantageously, to prevent two individuals with the I 
same fault contracting an alliance, or to prevent incestuous 
marriages ; for in all Pigeons where size is a desideratum this ! 
is of importance; though in breeding the smaller kinds, as j 
Tumblers, Jacobins, and Turbits, a cross in-and-in is not 
objectionable, if not carried too far, as it reduces the size, and 
makes them more delicate, which in these three varieties are 
considered beauties. Many of these delicate young ones perish 
from being left too soon by their parents; to remedy which, 
fanciers have recourse to shifting, or nurses ; that is, by putting 
those likely to be left under old birds that have more recently 
hatched, or under inferior birds, kept on purpose ; by which 
means the young have the advantage of more brooding and 
softer food. 
High breeding, and stimulating food, have the effect of 
causing the birds to lay again sooner, but also to neglect their 
young: hence the necessity of nurses for the more valued 
breeds.—B. P. Brent. 
(To be continued). 
