Wants of liirdkeepers. 155 



Of the simplest construction is a sort of cage I 

 have used very much, because while it is excessively 

 cheap, and handy to stow away, yet when in use it 

 gives the birds plenty of light and air, and is easily 

 kept clean. These are the common market cages, 

 sold by any dealer. 



There is a wooden sort of trough divided off for 

 the seed, which is so far preferable to many of the 

 smart cages, that the birds can get easily at their 

 food, and a little tin hooked on, contains the supply of 

 water. These hooked- on tins are better than water- 

 glasses, as they are less likely to be turned aside. 

 These cages are made of various sizes ; and I find it 

 most handy, the doors opening at one end, to let the 

 birds go daily from one that is dirty, into another 

 clean one. They have slides, not drawers, and if 

 made as I am having some done, either in stained 

 and varnished deal, or in polished wood, they are 

 really pretty. A tin barrel can then replace the 

 common cup now used for the water. These cages 

 heap together at night, and cover up in a pile in a 

 very convenient fashion. The prices in deal and tin 

 wire are about fourpence each for those five by six 

 inches, sixpence for those seven by eight, and a shilling 

 (when they are much higher) seven inches by eight. 



22. I have also had made a very large cage on the 

 same principles, three feet by eighteen inches, with a 

 nice sort of perch for the birds to hop along, a sort 



