178 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



The present-day Scotch Fancy show-cajic 

 is ilhistnited on this page. The to]i portion 

 ot t!ie cage is all wire : the bottom and 

 the four corner uprights arc ol' wood 

 cxtendiut;' hall'-way np, finished rff witii 

 a fancy turned bone si^ii-al. The 1o|> 

 portion of the corner uprights is of wire 

 l)assed through the Vtone spiral and forced 

 into the io\> of the wooden upright. In 

 sonic the middle cross-bars are of wood, and 

 in others of wire, with a sliding door at the 

 end. Some have, besides, a small door iu 

 the front below the middle bai-. Some 

 of the cheaper kinds are coloured all 

 black. l)ut the better-class cage is made of 

 niahogan\-. either French polished or var- 

 nished, while others have the front liottom 

 eross-l^ar bcautifidly iidaid with various 

 fancy woods. As will be observed, two 

 ])erches are arranged on the cross-bars so 

 that the birds can take a regulated ho]) of 

 about T iuchcs. a characteristic we shall 

 deal with full\' in the chapter on this bird 

 The cage is oblong in sha])e. with the toj) 

 slightly domed. In length it is about 1.5 

 or 1(1 inches, 5 or 5\ inches wide, and 11 

 inches higli at the ends, rising gradually to 

 i:i iuclus in the centre of the dome. 



()u this page is also shown a Border 

 Fancy stiow-eage, sinular in sliaiic to the 



Scotch Fancy, but smaller. The middle 

 cross-bars are made of wire, and drop at 



SCOTCH FANCY SHOW-CAGE. 



BORDER FANCY SHOW-CAGE. 



the ends with au ai'tistic curve. This kind 

 of cross-bar is a.No used in some Scotch 

 Fancy show-cages. With either variity it 

 gives a set-olf to the bird, though, of 

 course, it will not make a jxior sjieeiuien 

 of a bird into a good one. The J5ordcr 

 l*'ane\' cage lias onl\ oni' door at the end ; 

 the cage is i;! or 1.'}^ inches long, o inches 

 wide, and '•• iuelies high at tiii' ends, ris- 

 ing gradnall\' to 11 | inches iu the centre 

 of dome. it is rolom-cd black both inside 

 and out. the wires as well, 

 and has two perches rest- 

 ing on the middle cross- 

 liars. 



Show-cages rccpiire to l;e 

 k(])t in just as good eon- 

 dit ion as bii'ds. 

 t li (■ y sli(iul(] 

 :ilso Ik' spot- 

 lessly clean cNcry lime 1 he 

 birds arc run iulo tluin to 

 send lo a show, or other- 

 wise the i)luniage will be 

 soili'd. 'I'o a\(iid this it is 

 essential to wash the show- 

 cage each time it is rcfiuired, 

 so tliat good work iu |)re- 

 ])aiiugthe i)irds ma\ not be 

 uiulone. The task need 

 not be a long one ; a good 



Cleanliness 

 in Cages. 



