104 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



to scrape acciuaintancc thrmiuh the wires — 

 the thing, in a large establishment, woulil 

 be praetically impossible. We have read 

 somewhere that the cock should be placed 

 face to the wall, opposite his hen, in a cage 

 with a wooden back, having a circular 

 hole ill it just large enough to allow of his 

 ])utting his head through, when he will 

 commence his love-making across the room, 

 and nuist be conducted in the most gradual 

 way to his hen, until slic is made acquainted 

 with his entire personal ajipearance, from 

 his head to his tail. AVc really have not 

 patience to conuncnt on such nonsense ; 

 it is simply the veriest twaddle. The 

 probability is that when the birds are first 

 put together they will quarrel, but it is 

 not always so. It arises from the fact 

 that the cock bird is always the first to 

 make advances towards a more intimate 

 acquaintance, and the hen, as is fit and 

 proper, with becoming modesty repels 

 them. 



If he be wise he will commence by 

 admiring the nest, and will coax his hen 

 with presents of dainty morsels and a 

 display of polite gallantry ; but if he 

 begins at once to be too familiar, and the 

 first song he sings is " Oh ! name the day, 

 the ha]i]iy day,"' she will thrash him, or 

 try to do so. IK' in turn will dro]) his 

 wings, dance from one end of the ))erch 

 to the other, with head feathers elevated, 

 then dash alter her round and round the 

 cage as she tries to evade his ])ursuit. 

 singing the while as he chases her till the\' 

 can go no longer. The secpicl is usually 

 the same old, old story. In a few days 

 they settle matters to their uuitnal satis- 

 faction, and then begin their family duties. 



It is not. Ii()we\'er, (il;c(ii/.s- so. Some 

 hens take a settled aA'crsion to .-i p.-irl icuhir 

 cock and will never \y.iw with him; but 

 these viragoes are vrvy rare, and lliciugh 

 the\' may succeed in knocking all the 

 spirit out of one cock, and may ha\e to 

 be introduced to another, they gcnci'alK' 

 meet their match in the end. There are 

 also badly behaved cocks that are just as 

 spiteful with the hens. This occasionally 

 results from a cock being |)aired to a certain 



hen by her contimied call to him from 

 her cage, and may be tei'med "" ])airing 

 by voice." The two birds may not have 

 seen each other, but they know one another 

 by voice, and should the hen introduced 

 to the cock not happen to lie the hen to 

 which he has responded he can tell in a 

 moment. Such cases, however, furnish 

 no reason why valuable time shoukl be 

 wasted in pairing birds on the gradual 

 introduction system alluded to. 



Still, we have known cocks that would 

 literally scalp their hens, and the late ]Mr. 

 IJlakston once had a Lizard hen that 

 half-murdered her mate, and woukl have 

 finished him if he had not interfered. She 

 used to drive him under the egg-trough, 

 on which she woidd sit like a cat watching 

 a mouse, and say, as jilainly as she could 

 say it, '■ If you put your head out. I"ll 

 have you as sure as you are a Lizard " ; 

 and she did "" have "" him frequently, by 

 stooping from the perch and picking him 

 up by the top oi the head and swinging 

 him backwards and forwards underneath. 

 But ninety-nine per cent, of Canaries ]iair 

 as naturally as possible, and the breeder 

 will not have long to wait for evideuee of 

 their having properly ]>aircd. The first 

 indication of this is the cock feeding his 

 mate, for the Canary belongs to a class 

 of birds which feed from the crop. 



We should have mentioned that, as soon 

 as the birds are ]int together, they must 



be supplied with a mixture 

 Food for ,,|. ,.[„ ^.,1 iiard-boiled egg 



Paired Birds. , , , 



and bread-crumbs, or egg 



and crushed biscuit, with just a little maw- 

 seed mixed with it as a stinndaling diet. 

 This sho\dd be given in small cpiant it ics of a 

 teaspoonrul e\"ery other d.-iy I'or each pair of 

 bii'ds. A mill can now be procured I'or a 

 shilling or two I'or uiincing u)) the haril- 

 boiled egg and bread or biscuit together 

 expeditiously. ,-uid tin- |)re|)arat ion, after 

 being stirred a I'l-w times wit h a I'ork. is ready 

 I'oi- the birds. The cock will, in reply to the 

 invitation of the hen. made by a rapid llut- 

 tcriiig of the wings, accompanied by a low 

 twillering, constantly feed her by dis- 

 gorging the contents of his crop. II', in 



