1 8 THE CANARY. 



yolk and white grated together, or the ground food 

 called Holden's Song Restorer, should be given every 

 day for at least a week before you put the birds 

 together. Apple should be given as required, daily, 

 or every other day. These foods, with the canary and 

 rape seeds and an abundance of gravel, will get the pair 

 into condition, so in a few days they will be anxious 

 to mate ; and the male can then be put in the breed- 

 ing cage with every probability that he will love and 

 be loved, and, later, many fledglings will flutter their 

 approval . 



CANARIES WILL MATE, have the mating fever, any 

 time from early January on, until nearly June, and 

 will breed, when once mated, until September. It 

 is better to mate birds during the colder months of 

 January, February, March, and April, as birds hatched 

 then are stronger, grow better, and have sweeter 

 qualities of voice. 



AGE OF PAIRS. The male should not be over four 

 years old, and the better age is one or two years. 

 The female may be from one to four years. Some 

 breeders think if the female is a year or more older 

 than the male there will be a greater proportion of 

 males among the young birds because the younger male 

 will naturally be more vigorous than the older female. 



COLOR BREEDING. A yellow male and a light color 

 female produce usually handsome yellow birds. A 

 gold color pair will produce same color. A golden 

 male and deep green female often produce the filbert 

 or cinnamon colors. Solid green pairs usually pro- 

 duce solid greens ; but in some cases, unless the same 



