20 THE ROLLER CANARY 
ventilation in the nest ; another disadvantage of cotton 
waste or wool is that being so absorbent, the nest will 
not be very presentable after the young birds reach the 
age of 12 or 14 days. Ventilation through the nest is 
necessary. Three or four more days pass, the nest is 
made, and one morning an egg is seen in the nest. It 
should be removed, as should the second and third eggs, 
and all three may be returned either on the night of the 
third day or the morning of the fourth. 
The former is the best plan, as the eggs are more 
likely to chip altogether than if not returned till the 
fourth morning. ‘The first three eggs are cold when 
returned to the nest, the fourth is never cold, therefore 
if the first three are returned on the evening of the third 
day they are warmed up and start level with the fourth, 
and so the chicks all hatch about the same time on the 
thirteenth night or fourteenth morning from the return 
of the eggs. In the early part of the season incubation 
is generally a few hours longer than when the days are 
warm and long. 
PREPAREDNESS THE BEST DEFENCE 
To be best able to fight the red mite one should 
look ahead. Therefore when the eggs are returned to 
the nest, they and the nest should be well dusted with 
insect powder. 
If the cock is being run with more than one hen, 
he should be removed at night when the eggs are 
returned to the nest. He can then be introduced to his 
second wife, and the same procedure followed as we have 
detailed for the first hen. 
