Cages and Cage-making. 23 



needed in this division of the cage, for as soon as the young 

 birds are able to feed themselves they should be removed to 

 an ordinary breeding- or similar cage, and when they are 

 capable of breaking the seed, they may, if found desirable, be 

 placed in a flight-cage. A door at the end is necessary in 

 this compartment also. These cages are obtainable, ready 

 made, at most wire-workers' and ironmongers'. Their dimen- 

 sions are, as a rule, about 25in. in length, 15in. in height, 

 and 12in. in depth, from back to front. The breeding-loft is 

 divided into two compartments, Gin. square. 'The nursery 

 lOin. by 12in., or thereabouts. 



Fig. 10 is a drawing of a four-compartment breeding-cage, 

 with a fly- or flight-cage beneath. The latter can be made 

 with a sliding partition in the centre, the full height of the 

 open space in front. It can then be used either as a fly- or 

 as an additional breeding-cage. Two pieces of wood, one top 

 and one bottom, the depth of the top and bottom front stays 

 of the cage, should be grooved and fitted for the slide to 

 work in, these pieces, of course, being the full width of the 

 cage, and they must be fixed before the front is wired; two 

 thin pieces of wood are also fixed in front to form an 

 opening for the slide and to hold it firmly. The slide should 

 be toothed away at the top and bottom edges wedge-shaped 

 to make it glide in and out easily, and also to make it look 

 neater and more compact and workmanlike. A cage of this 

 description is well adapted for a recess in a sitting-room, and 

 should be well made of good materials, and French polished. 



The doors in the first four compartments of the cage are 

 fitted with a spiral wire spring for self-closing; this is fixed 

 to an adjoining wire. It is on the same principle as the wire 

 springs used for the lids of mouse-traps, and will be found 

 an excellent contrivance, as they are self-closing, and cannot 

 by any possibility be left open; hence they prevent accidents 

 which not unfrequently happen through a door being left 

 open unthinkingly. 



The other doors in the lower portion are the ordinary 

 sliding wire doors. Other descriptions of doors can be used 



