NESTS AND OTHER APPLIANCES 



69 



nice size and depth, and is notched out at 

 either side just behind the front, so as to 

 allow the door to drop down close upon it. 

 This arrangement makes it impossible for 

 the birds to escape beneath the door, and 

 at the same time the egg-drawer is securely 

 fastened. By means of this eflicient trough 

 the breeder is enabled to give his birds 

 their fresh supjily of egg- food in a very 

 short space of time and without disturb- 

 ing them in the least. 

 He simply has to 

 raise the door a little, 

 lift out the egg-drawer, 

 turn out any stale 

 food which may have 

 been left, wipe the 

 drawer dry with a 

 cloth — this should al- 

 ways be done when 

 fresh egg-food is given 

 — put the required 

 quantity of egg-food 

 in the drawer and 

 replace it. 



Where the cage 

 door does not slide up 

 and down, but opens outwards, a very 

 useful trough, made in both white glazed 

 ware and glass, is here shown. The 

 bottom of this vessel is oval, so that there 



are no cor- 

 ners for the 

 egg-food to 

 1 o d s e in. 



and conse- 

 quently it is 

 quickly 

 cleaned out. 

 It is fixed 

 to the front 

 wires of the 

 cage inside, 

 against one 

 of the cross- 

 perches, and has for this purpose a lip with 

 a hole through it. This lip is passed through 

 between two of the wires, and a piece of 

 wire about three inches long is slipped half- 

 way through the hole in the lip, which 

 holds the vessel securely in its place. 



GLASS OR EARTHEN- 

 WARE EGG-TROUGH 

 WITH LIP TO FIX BE- 

 TWEEN WIRES. 



A SHALLOW EARTHENWARE 

 EGG-DRAWER. 



Shallow earthenware drawers, such as 

 that illustrated, are also largely used, 

 but are not recommended. They are so 

 shallow that much of the egg-food is 

 wasted by being knocked out with the 

 bird's beak. There is a possibility that 

 this stale egg-food may lie on the floor of 

 the cage and form a dangerous attraction 

 to the young birds when they are able to 

 leave the nest. Should 

 they pick about amongst 

 it diarrhoea cjuickly super- 

 venes. 



For this form of drawer, 

 too, the front of the cage small glass ok 

 has to be cut to allow of ^^™''*^'*'' 

 its insertion. It will there- 

 fore be seen that the deeper drawers and 

 troughs before described are not only more 

 advantageous but more convenient. 



Another useful little vessel, made in both 

 glazed earthenware and glass, is also illus- 

 trated. In this may be given a supply 

 of boiled or soaked rape-seed when the 

 birds are breeding. It does not occupy 

 much room if stood on the bottom of the 

 cage, and holds as much as should be 

 given at one time. These vessels are 

 also useful for supplying the young birds 

 with a little egg-food while they are in 

 the nursery cage. Crushed seed can also 

 be given in one of them if so desired, or a 

 little bread that lias been soaked in scalded 

 milk. It will thus be seen how useful a 

 few of such vessels are in the bird-room 

 during the breeding season. In point of 

 cleanliness nothing equals these earthen- 

 ware or glass vessels. 



As we have dealt with the most suitable 



vessels in which egg-food can be given, it 



will not be out of j^lace if we 

 Egg=Food. , , „ ,, , . 



now treat 01 the best way 



of preparing the egg-food itself. Various 



methods are adopted. One. which we 



remember when quite a boy, was simply 



to cut in halves a cold hard-boiled egg, 



unshelled ; the two halves were cut through 



again, and each pair of birds that was 



feeding young, was supplied with a quarter, 



being allowed to feed from the solid piece 



of egg. This was, of course, a very ex- 



