in or put a can over the
top, as is done with corn cribs, and you will be well protected. A
window must now be put in the southern side of house to allow the
pigeons to reach the flying pen or aviary. The door also must be tight,
and it is safest to have a screen door on the inside, with a spring to
always keep it in place. If this is lined with one-half-inch mesh wire,
it will serve as a protection from rats, and allow for good
ventilation.

Equipping the house is easily and cheaply accomplished by the use of
egg crates turned on the side, with opening facing out. These should
have a three-inch strip nailed across front at bottom of crate, to keep
the squabs and eggs from falling out, or better still, make an inside
rectangle of three-inch lumber that just fits inside the crate. By
this, I mean a draw three inches high and eleven and one-half inches in
width and length, but without a bottom, as the lower side of the crate
completes the bottom.

[Illustration: Figure 3. CRATE IN POSITION AND NEST]

With this draw in place, the squabs are protected with a three-inch
partition in front, and to clean, simply pull the draw out and have a
basket beneath to catch the nest in. In making the so-called draw, care
should be taken to cut two pieces eleven-and-one-half inches and two
ten-and-one-half inches. The eleven-and-one-half-inch pieces are to run
all the way to the rear of box, and the shorter pieces comprise the
front and rear pieces. The longer pieces overlap the front and rear
pieces and are nailed securely. By having the front and rear pieces
short and the side pieces long, the draw will always pull out without
breaking. If made the other way, the nails may pull out when you clean
house. The ten-and-one-half-inch pieces are figured on the basis of
using lumber that is five-eighths-inch in thickness. Figure No. 3 shows
crate in position and nest ready to put in place.

One pair of pigeons uses both sides of one egg crate as they like to
alternate in breeding. Sometimes they have squabs in one side and
commence a nest in the other side. By the time the squabs are three
weeks' old, there will often be eggs in the other side of box. After
crates and nests are ready, arrange in east and west side of pen,
piling as high as necessary to accommodate the number of pairs. The
north side of house may also be used for nest boxes, or, if the east
and west sides of house are piled near the roof, it is well to have a
landing boar