AVIARIES, CAGES, AND FITTINGS 



25 



when they are going to nest the second time. Then it has 

 its uses in the early part of the season when the birds are 

 being paired up. The cock can be placed on one side 

 of the partition and the hen the other. Being able to 

 see each other they become acquainted and are able to 

 start courting through the wires. If the hen is of the 

 " new woman " fraternity and objects to being " courted " 

 the slide prevents her from doing any damage to the cock, 

 as such hens sometimes will if placed in a cage with a 

 strange mate, but it often happens that a veritable 

 " husband beater " will soften her heart, and set up a 



Hinged Wire Frame for Birdroom Window. 



most intense courtship when she finds her mate on the 

 other side of the bars. 



The treble, or three-compartment breeder is three 

 times the length of the single breeding cage, and is divided 

 into the three compartments by two shdes. Three com- 

 partment cages are more generally used by mule breeders 

 than by canary breeders, the centre division being the 

 home of the finch, whilst on either side live the two hen 

 canaries with which he is generally mated. Four-com- 

 partment cages are really double-decked, two-compart- 

 ment cages. Their use I do not recommend. Large 

 cages are bad to deal with in case of epidemics, they are 



