282 MOULTING AND NET CAGES. 



If a more ornamental structure is required, it might be 

 obtained of a dealer, something like No. 8, to place on a 

 mahogany stand. 



But the birds do best in a spare room, or a small aviary; 

 if put in a breeding cage of the kind here indicated, it 

 should have a curtain drawn round it, as they require more 

 privacy than this affords. What we have said about the 

 fitting up of aviaries, for breeding purposes, will sufficiently 

 indicate the requirements of this kind of cage. 



MOULTING CAGES. 



The before-mentioned Mr. Hawkins describes a model 

 cage for winter use ; it is twelve inches high and long, and 

 eight and a half inches deep. Wooden top, back, and one 

 side, the other side glass, with a wire to protect it ; the 

 glass being made to slide in and out. A sliding glass may 

 be also fitted to the front, so that the bird may be shut 

 completely in and kept warm, which is necessary in the 

 moulting season. Many piping Bullfinches, says our in- 

 formant, die in winter : the cause is they cannot moult, 

 By putting them in one of these cages, they obtain the 

 necessary warmth, and moulting goes on. Properly they 

 should be kept in them for six months, having the glasses 

 gradually drawn out until the protection is no longer 

 required. 



NET CAGES 



Are for young birds, and are also sometimes used for old ones, 

 such as Larks, which are apt to injure themselves by flying 

 against the top or sides of a cage in their efforts to escape. 

 It may be formed by stretching tolerably coarse net over a 

 framework of any sort ; four square posts, each a foot or 

 eighteen inches high, fitted into suitable holes made in the 

 four corners of a piece of smooth inch deal, about three 

 feet long and one foot wide, will do very nicely for the 

 frame ; with some soft hay in the bottom, from a dozen to 

 twenty young birds may be put into such a cage, and may 

 tumble and play about without any danger of hurting them- 



