Cages and Cage-making. 



will be observed in the back of a chest of drawers, &c., as 

 this plan likewise assists to keep out the parasites, for I 

 find they avoid cages where good lodgings are not pro- 

 curable. Get a supply of glass and emery-paper, wood and 

 wire, nails, flaws, and screws of various sizes, a piece of chalk, 

 and a stout lead pencil, and you ought to be thoroughly 

 equipped for the business of cage-making. 



Do not let the formidable list of tools which I have 

 enumerated frighten you from an attempt at making cages, 

 for there is no necessity to purchase all the articles 

 mentioned at an ironmonger's shop, unless you can afford to 

 do so and feel so disposed, as you can generally meet with 

 most of the tools at a furniture dealer's store at a moderate 

 price, especially if you live in a large town; and, besides, you 

 can frequently pick up a few of them at least at some sales 

 by auction for a mere song. 



The best wood for the tops, bottoms, backs, and ends of 

 breeding-cages is American pine, from half-an-inch to five* 

 eighths inch thick in the rough, and well seasoned (purchase 

 it from a well-established timber merchant, if possible), so that 

 when it is dressed it will be reduced to about tbree-eighths- 

 of-an-inch in thickness. For the fronts use hard wood, 

 either oak, teak, rosewood, mahogany, or walnut ; the two last- 

 named kinds are what I prefer myself, and when well dressed 

 off and nicely polished they look really superb. The ends, 

 tops, and bottoms of the cages ought to be stained and 

 varnished ; but I will treat upon this part of the subject 

 more fully hereafter. Make the body of the cage first; 

 measure off the timber and cut it to the sizes required, then 

 proceed to dress it, fit it, and lastly put it securely together. 

 Having satisfactorily accomplished this, cut out the wood for 

 the front of the cage, and act as before directed; if you 

 decide upon using wood rails for bars, as shown in Fig. 7, 

 it will be advisable to make them ready for wiring before 

 you fix them permanently. This is a most important feature 

 in cage-making, for if you do not have the holes exactly in 

 a line with each other, in the top, bottom, and bars, the 



