The London Cage. 25 



chimney which usually forms the recess, an inch or two is not of so much consequence as 

 disturbing the uniformity desired ; but we do not advocate deep cages. If there be width enough, 

 the space at command may be divided into two or three compartments by permanent partitions or 

 by slides, and the whole will then represent a large cage without fronts ; and here we will leave it, 

 to enter on the subject of cage-making proper. 



Different towns and different schools of fanciers affect different breeding appliances. Custom 

 and long usage determine many fashions, quite irrespective of their suitability. The ancient, 

 heavy, cumbersome, two-wheeled, four-horse plough still reigns in many parts of Kent, and 

 probably elsewhere ; while in the north a light, effective machine, which a man might almost swing 

 over his shoulder, is used. Each has its merits and demerits, and nobody will dispute either. In 

 Scotland — and thousands of Canaries are bred beyond the Tweed — open-wire cages are used ; while 

 a few miles south of the old Roman wall such a thing is unknown. The " London " cage, the 

 ordinary sale article of wire-workers and cage-makers, of which we give an illustration, is a useful 



FIG. 3. — THE LONDON CAGE. 



thing in its way, and, as generally turned out of the maker's hands, is not an unsuitable ornament 

 to the breakfast-room or study. Our sketch is made from memory, and may not perhaps be quite 

 so elegant as the manufactured article, but the arrangements of the cage are the same. It is an 

 open-wire cage, made in either one or two compartments, and consists of the usual living-room, 

 two nesting-places, and a small nursery, all under one roof On the shelf of the nesting-place 

 (which can be secluded from the living-room by a falling door, not visible in the sketch) is seen a 

 box, in which the hen constructs her nest. This can be suspended against the back of the little 

 closet if required, and we think it is best so. In place of this box, a basket (Fig. 17) is sometimes 

 let into the shelf like a hand-basin. The doors at the end afford facilities for getting at the interior 

 for examination of nests, cleaning, &c., and the second nesting-place furnishes the hen with another 

 breeding-room in case she should wish to build again before the young ones are old enough to turn 

 out into the nursery below, which is separated from the larger portion of the cage — the living-room 

 — by a wire partition made to slide in and out at pleasure. The nursery may also have a front- 

 door of its own, making it an independent tenement. This we think desirable, and, where such a 

 cage is being made to order, should advise its not being overlooked. It may also be fitted in front 

 with a small drawer of wood or earthenware to contain soft food for the young beaks, and should 

 be liberally supplied with seed and water holes at the end. Two perches running from front to 

 back, about two inches from the wire slide on one side and the wire-holes on the other, will be all 



