116 Song .Birch. 



The inside of this cage was not painted at all, 

 though the outside was thoroughly, as it used in 

 summer to stand out of doors. The top of this cage 

 had a sloping roof, from which the rain ran off, and a 

 waterproof curtain used to be hung up at night before 

 the wire front. 



The two sides being separated by a wire grating, 

 the young birds were often kept in one division, 

 with, perhaps, a party of a different kind overhead, 

 their own parents still being -kind to them through 

 the dividing bars. 



In the winter, the partitions being opened, the 

 whole number, sixteen or twenty, would live together 

 happily. 



2. One very good plan to adopt in having this 

 kind of cage, is to have one half made permanently 

 separated by a wire division from the other, while 

 that other is so arranged, by means of brackets, 

 serving for perches when not in use, as to support 

 the floor of an upper story not more than a foot from 

 the top, or at different heights going up. 



The advantage of this plan is that the two sides can 

 contain couples which would be disposed to molest 

 each other in their building, while the small division 

 up-stairs, when the cage is in three compartments, 

 forms a roomy nursery for any broods of young birds 

 that may require a little feeding after they have left 

 their mother. If a perch or branch is placed near the 



