THE CANARY. 2$ 



A SECOND BROOD may now be started by putting 

 the male in with his mate for a short time, night and 

 morning, so that he will fertilize the eggs ; when the 

 third egg has been laid he can be removed altogether 

 and put in charge of the young birds. 



MIXED FAMILIES. Young birds of the same age 

 may be kept together quite a long time ; but when 

 birds of different ages are kept in one cage, the older 

 birds often pick the feathers from the younger and 

 seriously injure them. If young birds eat one tenth 

 part canary seed with nine tenths rape, when ten or 

 twelve weeks old, their growth and progress in war- 

 bling will be more rapid. 



WHEN YOUNG BIRDS QUARREL they should be sep- 

 arated ; and while the males naturally sing some they 

 do not inherit the best song any more than a child 

 does. If you wish the birds to sing well they must 

 be taught by a good singer. The father bird cannot 

 devote himself to raising a second brood and give the 

 first brood the best instruction. The instructor may 

 be a choice canary, a Virginia nightingale, or a Euro- 

 pean nightingale, the Virginia bird being less desirable 

 than either of the others, 



YOUNG BIRDS MOULT their body feathers only the 

 first year, the moulting commencing when they get 

 into full feather at the age of six to eight weeks. 

 The larger feathers, the wing and tail feathers, are 

 not shed until the second season when the bird is 

 about a year old. 



YOUNG MALES swell out their throats in attempts to 

 warble when about eight weeks old, and with increas- 



