Pigeons that are confined should have a cage which is a yard 

 cube and the top of the "house" should be protected from the rain 

 and sun. The nesting box should be at least 6"x6"xio"; a cigar 

 box is very good as it is sufficiently large and it keeps away lice. 

 They should be fed green food, peas, corn, buckwheat, barley, and 

 some salt fish should be hung in the cage where the pigeons can get 

 to it. Some kind of grit (oyster shell, for instance) should be kept 

 in the cage. 



CANARIES can be bred in the school room, but they are expen- 

 sive, especially since the war, and they cannot stand the changes of 

 temperature which occur over week ends. They are not very 

 practicable except in places where much more care can be given 

 them than in the public school. Therefore it is not wise to try to 

 breed canaries, though they are very good parents and both male 

 and female feed and care for the young. Get books on breeding 

 canaries, or better, go to any German who breeds them. A German 

 neighbor of mine who lives in a tenement can give more helpful 

 hints in ten minutes than one could get from a book in a year. 



WHITE MICE (or any variety) are most valuable in city 

 schools, as they need but small boxes and they breed very rapidly, 

 and both parents, if well fed, help to care for their young. They 

 can be kept in very inexpensive boxes, which from time to time 

 should be thrown away as new ones are to be had at any grocery 

 store. For one pair of mice, a box about I2"x8"x6" is desirable, 

 covered on one end with ^-inch wire and provided with a movable, 

 or removable, side. All the rough edges of the wire must be cov- 

 ered to prevent the mice from injuring themselves. A smaller box 

 3"x2"x2", without a bottom, should be kept inside for a bed and a 

 small circular opening should lead into it. For bedding, sawdiftt 

 or pieces of paper, which the mice chew up, can be used. They 

 should be fed hard bread to keep their teeth sharp, and bits of green 

 vegetables, small amounts of oats and wheat; and the nursing 

 mothers should have milk after the little ones are born. In fact, 

 the food should be varied. Plenty of zvater should be accessible to all 

 animals all the time. Mice mature in three months, and may live 

 to be two years of age. The period of gestation is 21 days, and 

 from 4 to 8 young are born at a time. The little ones are born 

 naked and blind, and are intensely interesting to the children; they 

 sometimes think they are worms and then suddenly decide they are 

 baby mice. The mother builds a wonderful nest with a little hole 

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