Finches. 131 



wire cage with compartments. Birds are sometimes 

 put in pairs in an aviary or large cage, with nesting- 

 boxes or baskets in the corners, but it rarely happens 

 that matters are carried on amicably thus. One box 

 or basket is selected by two hens, perhaps, and neither 

 will be persuaded to build or lay her eggs in any 

 other box or basket ; consequently there will be con- 

 stant combats over the right of possession, and when 

 one hen succeeds in establishing herself on the nest, 

 the other will stand by her till hunger drives her to 

 the seed-box, and then she will take possession of the 

 nest. Then jealousies and rivalries will occur both 

 between the husbands and their wives : each pair will 

 do far better apart, either in an orthodox " breeding- 

 cage " sold for the purpose, or in a cage divided into 

 compartments (with a space between each), in which 

 the nest-boxes or baskets are placed. 



There are some advantages in the breeding -cage 

 alluded to, and those birds who are shy and court re- 

 tirement for their nursery cares prefer them : they 

 should not be less than twenty or twenty-four inches 

 long, by twelve wide, and fourteen or sixteen inches 

 in height, boarded at the top and back, and with wired 

 front and sides. They are sometimes boarded at the 

 sides, but the nursery compartment gets so close in 

 hot weather, that the wired ends are far preferable, 

 and a piece of brown paper, or brown holland can be 

 placed over the upper part. Underneath the part par- 



92 



