BIRD NEWS 



THE CANARY 



PRACTICAL NOTES ON GENERAL. 



MANAGEMENT AND 



BREEDING. 



NUMBER 2 

 The worst possible cage for any 

 class of bird is the hell cage. In the 

 bell cage oxercise is reduced to an 

 impossibility, the result is that the 

 bird, sooner or later, becomes dis- 

 eased, internal troubles of the lungs 

 and digestive organs being the most 

 common. Undoubtedly the best all 

 purpose cage for the canary is that 

 known as the wagon cage, rectangu- 

 lar in shape, top, sides, and ends, of 

 open wire work, the . top arched 

 rather than flat, this is more artistic 

 and further prevents the cage top be- 

 ing used as a shelf. The open work 

 enables the bird to enjoy plenty of 

 light and fresh air, and adds much 

 to its general appearance and wel- 

 fare. The best sized cage for a bird, 

 that is kept simply as a pet or for its 

 song, is 14 to 17 inches long, 12 to 

 13 inches high, and 7 to 9 inches 

 wide. Any wood used in its con- 

 struction — and real fanciers prefer 

 the lower part of the frame to be of 

 wood — should be hard wood, such as 

 walnut, rosewood, cedar or maho- 

 gany, not painted but finished in 

 French polish. The all-metal cage 

 has some points of recommendation, 

 and perhaps for the simple amateur, 

 might be acceptable. There should 

 be no paint employed, even when en- 

 amelled the paint is easily pecked off 

 by the bird? and evil results follow. 

 All metal work should at least be 

 strongly lacquered to avoid the for- 

 mation of rust or verdigris. A door 

 should be placed in the center of the 

 front, also at one of the ends pre- 

 ferably arranged to slide up and 

 down rather than opening outwards. 

 Water and seed receptables are best 

 arranged so as to turn inwards. This 



prevents much waste of contents, and 

 save the bird the annoyance of put- 

 ting its head "through a hole" every 

 time it desires to drink or eat. A 

 false bottom should in all cases be 

 provided; metal work with turned-up 

 edges to form a tray being the most 

 useful. The opening to admit the 

 false bottom should not be so wide, 

 that a bird could escape thereby; 

 neglect of this precaution has led to 

 the loss of many a favorite songster. 

 The perches are most important; the 

 shape and arrangement of these are 

 so little considered, that much need- 

 less discomfort is the result. 



The chronic perch of size and shapes 

 of a lead pencil is an abomination. 

 The taper perch is an improvement 

 and should have at least a section of 

 it^ length, not less than half an inch 

 wide and three-eights of an inch' 

 deep; personally we like pieces of 

 branches, with the bark still at- 

 tached; these are cheap, and when 

 soiled can be thrown away. There 

 may be some objection lodged, that 

 the bark will encourage the red mite, 

 but we have always been able to 

 avoid this by smiply not allowing the 

 perch to become foul or to remain 

 too long in use. The red mite and 

 the perch is an unholy alliance, of 

 which we shcill have more to say 

 later on; in the meantime it is well 

 for the bird keeper to wash or rtnev 

 the perches frequently and smear a 

 trace of simple disinfectant or coal 

 oil where the perch rests upon tlic 

 bars of the cage. In a cage s.ic;i as 

 we have described two cross pe.chcs 

 with an upper perch intermediate In 

 position would be sufficient. Special 

 perches mav have to > e arranged to 

 accommodate the bird when feedin--.', 

 but these are not necessarily crr.- 

 cerned in the exercise of the bird 

 and need only to be considered as 

 above mentioned. 



(To be Continued.) 



