TREATMENT OF CANARY BIRDS. 145 



except, in the opinion of some, to the eye. The 

 long birds are tender and delicate, and will not 

 bear the vicissitudes of our climate like the 

 others. And for song, I have had, and may have 

 now, a stout, original green Canary, or a good, 

 strong Yellow Bird that has been bred here, that 

 you might hang in an attic all winter without 

 fire, which will sing as sweet a note as any 

 long bird I have ever heard in New York or 

 Boston. Never pair birds of the same family to- 

 gether ; if you wish to breed any of your young 

 birds, exchange with some of your neighbors, or 

 purchase mates for them. This close breeding 

 degenerates the birds, and finally they become 

 good for nothing. 



BREEDING CAGES, NESTS, &c. 



I HAVE bred Canaries in rooms and in cages, 

 and I prefer the latter method, not only because 

 I have been more successful in this way, but I 

 think there is more pleasure and gratification in 

 breeding in cages. You can go close up to the 

 cage and look at them when feeding their young, 

 without startling them, or take down the nests and 

 see if all is right, and attend-to their little wants, 



