HIS PRIVATE APARTMENT 49 



may be put up for a shelf to rest on. One end 

 should come up flush with the window-casing, 

 so that the bird can look out. Whether there 

 are a dozen cages in a room or only two, care 

 must be taken that the upper perches of all 

 are about the same height in the room. A 

 bird nearly always sleeps on his upper perch, 

 and he will be miserable if he sees another one 

 higher than himself. I measure with a tape- 

 line, and make all conform to the highest. 



The cage must always be in the light part 

 of the room, and near, as I have said, but not 

 against, a window. It should neither be next 

 to the heater to get hot air, nor near the floor 

 to get cold air. About level with your own 

 head when standing is a good height for a 

 cage. 



If you want your bird to go out in summer, 

 hang the cage in the shade, and not against a 

 house where the sun has heated it ; a brick 

 wall becomes like a hot stove after a few hours 

 of beating sun, and a bird will suffer greatly if 

 hung against it. He must never be set in the 

 window to get the draught always there, but 

 he may be hung below or one side of the win- 

 dow on the outside, if that side is shady. The 

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