THE CAXAEY. 283 



sliding door. The male is first put, with one of the females, 

 into one of the compartments, with the door of communication 

 shut. When she has laid, he is to be taken away and put into 

 the other compartment with the second female. When she 

 also has laid her eggs, the door may be left permanently open, 

 and the male allowed to pass from one to the other. He will, 

 in this case, visit his two mates alternately, and they on their 

 part will manifest no jealousy of each other. In a room full 

 of Canaries, the proportion of males to females should be one 

 to two, or even three. Each male will first select a favourite, 

 with which he will pair, and always continue on the most 

 affectionate terms ; but during the process of incubation, he 

 will be invited to pair by the other females, and will probably 

 do so, without afterwards troubling himself much with either 

 them or their eggs. It is noticed, that from unions such as 

 these, the largest broods, and best birds, are produced. 



If the floor of the room be strewed with fine moss and lichen, 

 the birds will need no further help in building their nests ; 

 though some persons supply them with hair of various animals, 

 swine's bristles, fine dry hay, shreds of paper, and woollen or 

 linen cloth : of these materials, the birds select the coarser for 

 the substance, the finer for the lining of the nest. They are 

 sometimes prompted by instinct to build a nest on the pine 

 branches, without the aid of the foundation of wood, or osier, 

 provided for them ; but it is never very skilfully constructed, 

 nor carefully finished. As is the case with most birds, the 

 female is generally the builder ; while the male only chooses 

 the place for the nest, and carries the materials. The female 

 is incessantly in motion with the nest, and invites the male to 

 the act of pairing, which generally takes place at that time, 

 with an incessant chirruping. This is repeated more fre- 

 quently as the time of laying the eggs approaches ; and 

 between the first pairing, and the laying of the first egg, a 

 period of seven or eight days usually intervenes. One egg is 

 laid each day generally at the same hour till they reach five 

 or six in number ; and the pairing continues up to the com- 

 mencement of incubation. If the birds be good sitters, it is 

 sufficient to leave them to themselves, without offering any 

 artificial assistance. It is, however, usual to take the eggs 

 away as soon as laid, supplying their place in the nest with an 

 ivory nest-egg, and laying them up in a box in fine, dry river 



