THE BREEDING-ROOM 



37 



which, to a great extent, subvert this 

 order of things. The first streak of day- 

 Hght sees them on the move, and long 

 before the close of day their heads are 

 tucked into their wings. Their day is 

 not our day, but we are very apt to forget 

 it. The value of the early sunshine to 

 them is incalculable, for it enables them 

 to begin work at a time that is in accordance 

 with their natural instincts, not the least 

 important part of which is to attend to 

 the wants of their young. 



Canaries will make a longer season 

 in a room where they are not done up by 

 the heat, which seems to fag them out, 

 and throw them into moult before the 

 proper season. With muling stock — i.e., 

 hens kept exclusively for breeding Gold- 

 finch and other hybrids — this is a matter 

 of the utmost importance, as their season 

 does not begm till the Canary season is 

 half spent, and the value of late nests will 

 be sufficiently apparent. A cool room 

 virtually prolongs a season, and the differ- 

 ence between losing a nest and gaining an 

 extra one amounts to two, which is a 

 valuable consideration. From these re- 

 marks it will be observed that a room with 

 windows facing south-east is the most 

 suitable for Canaries when breeding, while 

 in the case of a room used exclusively for 

 hybrid breeding windows facing full east 

 are preferable. 



Avoid a room that abuts on to the 



house, in the way that so many of the 



kitchens, with a room over- 



^^^ head, are built in the yards of 



Question of 



Temperature. 



small tenements nowadavs. 



These rooms have generally 

 very thin walls, and have at least two sides 

 exposed, which makes them miserably cold 

 in winter and as miserably hot in summer ; 

 the temperature out-of-doors is much more 

 equable than in places of this kind. Sudden 

 alternations are most injurious to the birds, 

 and to these they are sure to be subject 

 in rooms such as those to which we have 

 referred. We have more than one such in 

 mind while penning these lines, and have 

 rarely known a really good season's work 

 to have been carried out in any of them ; 



knowing how sensitive the Canary is to 

 sudden and frequent changes of temper- 

 ature, we attribute the want of success as 

 much to this cause as to any other. It 

 is a cause, too, Which affects the bird most 

 at a time when it is least able to bear up 

 against it ; that is, during the breeding 

 season, when the hens, at least, are not 

 in a normal condition as regards health, 

 but are more or less affected by the state 

 of body natural to the period of incubation. 

 Recollect that each pair of birds is boxed 

 up in a house of about twenty inches 

 frontage and not a foot in depth, and that 

 some cages are placed where the occu- 

 pants seldom get a gleam of sunshine, 

 while others have no protection from the 

 scorching rays of the summer sun. They 

 have to make the best of their jaosition, 

 and have not the opportunities for exercise 

 which aviary tenants have — they cannot 

 plume themselves in a warm corner or 

 retreat into the shade, but are entirely 

 dependent upon the care and forethought 

 of others for their comfort as well as for 

 the necessaries of their mere existence. 



Attention to these things constitutes the 

 difference between a well-ordered room and 

 one which, from floor to ceiling, shows at 

 all jooints indications of want of thought. 

 This question of aspect and general suit- 

 ability is one on which we feel perfectly 

 satisfied more depends than many imagine, 

 and is probably the key to the solution of 

 the question of varying success. 



The question of draughts and ventilation 

 demands close consideration in connection 

 with the breeding-room, and 

 we may here indicate some 

 arrangements which will be found useful. 

 Something will depend on the room itself. 

 If it be an attic with an ordinary lift-up 

 skylight, it should be borne in mind that 

 few of these windows shut closely, even 

 if well made ; they are constructed to 

 exclude rain, but are very draughty con- 

 trivances. The ledge on which the frame 

 rests ought to be covered with thin felt, 

 or some such yielding substance, to ensure 

 a close fit ; and more especially during the 

 blustering winter months. The aperture 



Ventilation. 



