198 The Canary Book. 



unbiased judge or jury will, if the case is brought before 

 them, give the fair value for the loss in all ordinary cases, 

 and where no contributary negligence can be proved against 

 the sender; and I strongly advise any fancier who may suffer 

 through the neglect or carelessness of any railway company 

 to test their responsibility by an action in a County Court. 

 Although birds are delicate and tender-looking little creatures, 

 it is surprising what an amount of knocking-about they can 

 stand without being injured. Out of many thousands of 

 birds that I have sent away and received, I have only had 

 about four die. 



When birds are purchased from a person unknown to you, 

 and he demands pre-payment, send him a P.O.O., payable ten 

 days after date. In order to do this, you must affix a penny 

 receipt stamp, and sign the requisition on the face of the 

 order to that effect. If he fail to send you the birds within 

 a reasonable time, then you can stop payment by giving 

 notice to the postmaster where the order is made payable; 

 but if he give you a satisfactory reference to a banker or 

 town clerk, a magistrate, or a doctor of medicine or divinity, 

 you need not take these precautions. I must not, however, 

 omit to say that an order made payable in this way is not 

 any security to the vendor of the birds, as the remitter of 

 the order can stop payment during the ten days, and get 

 the amount of it refunded to him by the postal authorities. 



SENDING BIRDS TO PURCHASERS AT A DISTANCE. Be 

 very careful always to send birds in small box-cages or in 

 strong boxes, with plenty of holes bored in them to admit 

 air; fix some pieces of wood to the bottom of the box with 

 small screw-nails for the birds to perch on; never place 

 them a little way from the bottom, or the birds may get 

 jammed beneath them, and be smothered with the seed, or 

 hurt. Never put hay, straw, shavings, or similar material 

 inside a box or cage used for this purpose, or the birds 

 will either be hungered to death through not being able to 

 get to the seed, or be suffocated. Always give them a 

 plentiful supply of seed and a little soft, white bread-sop, 



