PIGEONS. 
lime mortar, and a little clay, mixed with spicy seeds, as 
caraway, which they allow their pigeons to feed upon at will. 
The seed may be scattered on the floor amongst the gravel, 
although many persons recommend little contrivances to put it 
in, on the score of keeping it cleaner and better. 
DOMESTIC ACCOMMODATION AND MANAGEMENT. 
Familiarised, or fancy pigeons are generally confined in 
aviaries, or lodged in appropriate buildings attached to or near 
the house of the breeder, in order that they may be regularly 
and easily fed, cleansed, and duly attended to in all matters 
having reference to their condition and health; for their natural 
instinct and feeling of liberty have been so nearly effaced, or 
placed in abeyance by the captivity to which they have been 
subjected, for so many generations, that they have become 
nearly dependent upon man for support, and have lost the 
power or capability, even when allowed to fly at large, of 
looking for and finding their own food. 
In these buildings, it is common to erect a certain number of 
boxes, or divisions, against the walls or sides, each calculated 
to accommodate a pair of pigeons, with their nest and young. 
They succeed best when separate and distinct from each other, 
with a small platform, and an entrance just large enough to 
admit the bird; as when disposed in a continuous row, and 
open in front, they are apt to interfere with each other, and, 
by their jealousies and contentions, prevent the due increase 
of eggs and young. 
The most common shape for a pigeon house is the one repre¬ 
sented in the succeeding illustration, but the form is immaterial. 
It is, however, necessary that the holes should be large enough 
for the birds to turn round in with ease; and there should be in 
front shelves and partitions of from seven to nine inches in 
depth, so as to keep the couples apart, and afford them resting 
places; and two holes for each couple, between each partition, 
k will be desirable. The cot should be fixed where it will be | 
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