THE CANARY CAGE, 275 



of artistic design lias been made subservient to the comfort 

 and convenience of the feathered inmate. And such cages 

 are not difficult to obtain. We hope, ere long, to see a 

 great improvement effected in the construction of cages by 

 the employment of a new material therein, viz. paper, 

 which we doubt not will now be employed for a variety of 

 yet unthought of purposes. What so light, so capable of 

 being wrought into ornamental shapes as papier-mache"! and 

 what so tough and endurable ? Yes, we must have paper 

 bird cages, as well as paper collars and drainpipes ; and why 

 not paper tables to stand them on, and paper chairs to sit 

 in, and listen to the warbling of the feathered inmates 

 of the paper palaces, rich with gorgeous colours, gilding, 

 and inlaid work of flowers and shells, and all the fairest 

 things which art produces in imitation of nature. 



We have spoken of cages in general, let us now parti- 

 cularise and state what cages are most suitable for certain 

 birds, and under special circumstances. And first 



THE CANARY CAGE, 



Which will also do for any of the Finches should be 

 always pretty and ornamental, as the birds are ; if not 

 combinations of glass and metal, they should have a frame 

 of mahogany, with wire work wrought into various patterns, 

 and surmounted with brass finials, of an urn or acorn- 

 like shape; the top, instead of being flat, or a plain dome, 

 may be of various elevations, like two or three distinct 

 roofs in a building, as in the subjoined examples (6 and 7). 

 The pretty round metal cages, made to hang up in the 

 centre of a window, do very well for birds of this des- 

 cription, as they do also for Linnets and some Larks, but 

 not the Skylark. The common size will hold a pair of 

 birds, but not more Canaries, however, generally sing 

 best when kept singly, and one of these birds may find a 

 very pretty and comfortable home in the fancy cage 

 (No. 1). 



