The Belgian. 221 



faction with the result. I am quite certain that a great many 

 hens, which doubtless otherwise would supply the wants of their 

 progeny well enough, are by such treatment completely spoilt. 



Always give a hen, and more especially a Belgian canary, a 

 fair chance, and if she is in good health and left entirely alone, 

 the probabilities are more in favour of her proving a good nurse 

 than a bad one. I have repeatedly heard it asserted that 

 common canary hens are the best mothers, and without doubt 

 they are as good as any ; but experience informs me that they 

 are little or no better than hens of many other varieties if they 

 are interfered with. There are no canaries more attentive to 

 their duties in assisting to rear their broods than the male birds 

 of the Belgian variety ; and I see no reason why the females 

 should not prove correspondingly attentive. At one time I bred 

 a large number of these birds ; and one season I reared twenty - 

 six birds from four pairs ; three of the hens fed their own off- 

 spring, and one pair reared nine birds themselves, but this may 

 be considered exceptional ; still it is not beyond the bounds of 

 probability to effect a similar coup de la bonne fortune. Leave 

 them alone to their own maternal instincts, treat them the same 

 as you would birds comparatively worthless, and you will find 

 that Belgian hen canaries are far better nurses than you were 

 led to suppose. 



If a hen is delicate or out of health, you cannot reasonably 

 expect her to perform her duties satisfactorily, and in such 

 cases you must transfer her eggs to another hen on which you 

 can place reliance ; but do not bother her, not even if she is a 

 " common hen." If a hen has had a difficulty in laying her eggs, 

 and has been prostrated in her efforts to do so, it would not, 

 under such circumstances, be prudent to entrust her with the 

 rearing of her progeny; therefore, if they are at all valuable, it 

 will be advisable to effect a transfer with some other hen, whose 

 produce you consider to be of much less importance. 



Always bear in mind the following maxim, " That which is 

 naught is never in danger" i. e., that which is considered of no 

 intrinsic value ; for, although you may, as most likely you will, 

 think very highly of some of your birds, and set great store by 

 them, you will nevertheless find it a golden rule to treat them as 



