There may be a dove-cot for _pigeons_ in the poultry-yard with the other fowls. When the pigeon-house is large, it is generally built round like a tower from the ground upwards; but where this is inconvenient, a small wooden dove-cot may be fixed against the walk. In your case I would decidedly advise you to have a pigeon-house in your poultry-yard; and, if it is built like a tower, there should be holes in the upper part for the birds to enter by, with a shelf under each row of holes, and a little penthouse projecting from the roof to keep out the wet. The interior of the pigeon-house must have cells for nests, which are made by putting up shelves twenty inches wide and one foot apart, and dividing the spaces between them by upright partitions, three feet from each other. Across the back of each nest there should be a board three inches wide, sliding up and down in a groove, to prevent the young ones from falling out, and yet to allow of the nest being cleaned. When the house has been stocked with pigeons, a little hay or soft straw is put into each cell for the pigeon to form its nest. Some persons divide each cell into two nests, as, when the young are about a fortnight old, the female, without waiting till they are fledged, often begins to lay again; and, when there is only one nest, it is not an uncommon thing to see a female pigeon sitting on a fresh set of eggs, while the young of the former hatching are still under her care. When a pigeon-house is to be stocked, a number of young birds are obtained either in May or August, when they are in the state called squeakers, that is to say, not fully grown, but able to feed themselves. When the female pigeon begins to lay, she produces only one egg, and then waits a day or two, after which she lays another, and immediately proceeds to sit. She continues sitting from fifteen to twenty days, or rather the male and female sit alternately during that time; but, as soon as the young pigeons are hatched, the mother never leaves them, for the space of three days, though after that time she commits them, very frequently, almost entirely to the care of a male, who feeds them in the same manner as she does herself, by swallowing peas or other large seeds, and, after keeping them in the crop till they are partly macerated, forcing them up again, and ejecting them into the open mouths of the young ones. While the young are thus fed, they are called squabs, and in that state they are reckoned best for pies; but, when they get old enough to feed themselves, they are called squeakers. They breed very often, but only continue prolific for a few years, and are, in general, short-lived.