THE BIRDS OF THE AVIARY 



269 



TiiK Toilet of a Canary 

 FOR THF ExFosrnox 



First he should be carefully rubbed down the is not advisable for the owner of a single canary 



back, breast, and head with a soft towel. Then to employ the Cayenne remedy, because in our 



the wings must be dried with even more caution, 



being carefully rubbed always in their natural 



direction, after which the bird must 



be laid safe and sound, but slil 



rather damp, on the flannc 



which has been spread on 



the floor of the cage 



Though he will seem 



to be half dead, he is 



in reality full of life, 



and if he is left 



quietly to himself in 



some place carefully pro 



tected from drafts, he will 



recover from his fright in a 



few hours and be as gay as cvei. 



A canary well cared for is a 

 pleasure to the eye ; yet even those 

 most carefully treated have to pass 

 through a period, which they cannot evade, 

 when they are far from being charming to be- 

 hold. We mean, of course, the molting period. 

 This phenomenon, which takes place every year, 

 cannot be called a disease, though many birds 

 die of it. As temperature has a 

 great influence on the duration of 

 the molt, the birds should be kept 

 warm in some quiet, tranquil place ; 

 the washings must cease ; and as for 

 food, more egg should be given and 

 more seed and bread, but no hemp. 

 It is well to put a bit of apple or 

 cooked carrot between the bars of 

 the cage, but no green food should 

 be given. 



For young birds this is a very try- 

 ing period ; in fact, the influence of 

 the molt is so great that some prom- 

 ising young songsters never fully 

 recover their powers. It is the cus- 

 tom among breeders in England and 

 the United States to give the molting 

 birds a mixture of hard-boiled egg, 

 biscuit, and Cayenne pepper. At first they 

 refuse this stinging delicacy, but after a few 

 days they become extravagantly fond of it. It 



day it is difficult to obtain it unadulterated, and 

 he risks poisoning his pet with some deleterious 

 substance masquerading as Cayenne 

 pepper. 



V. Incubation 



l-'or the incubation of 

 , the eggs of canaries 

 and of other small 

 house birds, a hatch- 

 ing cage should be 

 provided, — one closed 

 on three sides, — as large 

 as possible, and so arranged 

 that a nest can be easily sus- 

 pendcil in it. This nest should not be 

 made with too much art. It should 

 be about two and a half or three 

 inches deep and should consist 

 chiefly of a solid pouch suspended from the roof. 

 If it suits the female she will know, when the 

 pro])er time comes, how to line it with threads, 

 moss, lint, bits of grass, etc., which must be 

 slipped between the bars of the cage. She 



Dry ^VITH Care ! 



usually lays her eggs early in the morning, — 

 one a day for five or perhaps six days, though 

 it often happens that she lays only three or four. 



