244 CANARIES 



thousands of Rollers are being bred in England, and were 

 I wanting a singing canary I should prefer to purchase 

 an English-bred Roller than one made in Germany, 

 not altogether for patriotic reasons, but because it would, 

 being acclimatized, stand the vagaries of the English 

 climate better than an imported bird. Further, I should 

 esteem it more if it came from Smiths' strain rather than 

 the Schmidts. That's sentiment, and patriotism. 



Breeding Rollers, 



In the years that are past there used to be great 

 mortality amongst the Roller canaries imported into 

 this country from Germany, and the better they were 

 as musicians the more susceptible they seemed to be to 

 the vagaries of the British climate. Why I cannot say, 

 except that on the Continent many of the breeders keep 

 their birds in rooms that are very warm. 



The breeding of Rollers has one advantage over breeding 

 exhibition canaries. It is not needful to use single 

 cages as birds for singing purposes may readily be bred in 

 aviaries. By this neans it is possible to breed more 

 birds, and to considerably minimize the time and labour 

 spent in looking after them. Bred in such a manner 

 the birds are strong and vigorous, easily reared and 

 quickly moulted. When this plan is adopted a dozen 

 hens and three or four cocks will breed a number of birds. 

 I would not recommend a larger number of birds being 

 together, for the simple reason that, should any infectious 

 or contagious disease make its appearance, the risk of 

 its spreading with alarming rapidity would be great. 

 Care must be taken in aviary breeding to provide twice 

 as many nest-boxes as there are hens, or there will be ever- 

 lasting fighting for favoured positions, followed by 

 consequent loss in the smashing of eggs and deserted 

 young. 



When very choice birds or birds of a particular line 

 of breeding or strain are used they can be bred in large 

 breeding cages, each cock being given two hens. Such 

 a cage should be about 30 inches long, 11 inches deep 

 from front to back, and 20 inches high. These double 

 breeding-cages will be found fully described in the chapter 

 on Cages, In speaking of choice birds, I mean those which 



