58 CANARIES 



to remove the cock and let the hen bring the young up 

 herself. It often happens that when the hen finds all the 

 responsibiUty of the family thrown on to herself she 

 rises to the occasion and sets about feeding them. Once 

 she starts, the trouble is at an end. If she still refuses to 

 feed them the matter is hopeless. It does sometimes 

 happen that a hen will feed all right for the first fortnight, 

 and will then throw up her job. In such a case take her 

 away and leave the up-bringing of the family to the cock. 

 This trouble does not often occur, and when it does 

 it is usually with young inexperienced birds. For this 

 reason I always like one bird of a pair to be at least 

 two or three seasons old. Apart altogether from this 

 question of feeding, it is my firm opinion that when 

 one of the parents is two or three or even four years 

 old, the young are stronger and more vigorous than 

 those which are the progeny of two first-season birds. 

 Therefore I strongly advise my readers never to pair 

 together two yearling birds, unless absolutely obliged to 

 do so. 



Hens Which Sweat Their Young. 



Nothing is more disheartening to a fancier than to 

 see a fine healthy nest of youngsters which have made 

 great progress for say twelve or fourteen days suddenly 

 begin to fade away, as they do when the hen takes to 

 sweating. This sweating arises from several causes. 

 In some instances weakness, in others excessive maternal 

 anxiousness, or nervousness, and in some cases by feeding 

 too Hberally on dandelion. It also arises because the hens 

 are not in proper breeding condition when mated. Hens 

 that are fat, and soft in flesh can hardly be expected 

 to attend properly to their maternal duties, and such hens 

 are generally the ones that sweat their babes. It is most 

 essential to successful breeding that the birds when 

 mated should be hard and firm in both flesh and muscle. 



Excessive feeding of the hens during the winter and 

 spring months has much to do with this sweating. It 

 overheats the hens, and induces a state of super-broodiness. 

 Thus when the hen should be feeding she is brooding, 

 sitting persistently and neglecting to feed her nestlings. 



