Breeding in Aviaries. 71 



6. Birds do not, however, generally approve of 

 any interference, and the less they undergo, the 

 better they will succeed. 



Home persons make a practice of taking away the 

 eggs in all cases, as fast as they are laid, thereby 

 losing a great many birds. Others dip them in warm 

 water ; others sprinkle them to aid in the hatching : 

 but all these practices are worse than useless, and 

 if they were required the bird herself would see to it. 



Chaffinches, for instance, in hot weather have been 

 noticed damping their eggs with water in their bills ; 

 and when the eggs are bad, the hen generally finds 

 it out, and thereupon leaves the ne^t. 



7. It is a very necessary thing that plenty of light 

 and air should be afforded, whether in the aviary or 

 in breeding-cages. 



I dislike the practice of hanging cages, as people 

 often do, by the side of a window, to be out of the 

 strong light. The nest itself, doubtless, should be in 

 a shady corner, and either a spray of leaves or a piece 

 of green baize may be hung over the spot where it 

 is being built ; but of all depressing things to the 

 old birds, and of all hurtful and weakening things 

 for the young, the absence of direct light and of the 

 warm soft rays of the morning sun, are the worst 

 to which they can be exposed. Some young birds, in 

 fact, leave their nests less than half fledged from this 

 very cause, as nothing adds so much to the quick 



