We mentioned a dove in the last Mishnah. Now we’ll discuss the case of a dove that was found by somebody. A young dove was found within 50 amot (cubits) of a birdhouse for doves. We assume that it belongs to the owner of that birdhouse because a young dove would fly around 50 amot from its nest. Therefore, if it’s found within 50 amot, we assume that it came from there, and it’s returned to the owner.
But if the bird is found more than 50 amot from the nest, then we say it belongs to the person who found it. Since it’s more than 50 amot from the nest, we assume it’s not from the nest. Rather, maybe it came from somebody who was traveling and dropped it there. So the traveler who dropped it on the floor had ye'ush on it. He gave up hope of finding it. Therefore, the person who actually found it now could keep it.
If the bird was found between two birdhouses belonging to different owners, and it was found closer to one, it belonged to that owner. If it was found closer to the other one, it would belong to that owner. We assume it came from the nearest dovecote. But if it was found exactly between the two birdhouses, then the owners split the value of the bird. We don’t know where it came from. We know it came from one of them because it’s in close proximity to both, but we can’t determine which one. So we divide it equally between the two owners.