26 Caataries and Cage-Birds. 



the perching-room required, and will enable the occupants to be fed through the wires or to help 

 themselves through the holes. The cage in the illustration was not drawn to scale, but is intended 

 to represent one about three feet long, of which the nursery division is nine inches, height eighteen 

 inches, and width from back to front not exceeding a foot. It is a handy little affair, but the 

 breeder who puts up many pairs looks on it as a toy. A toy it is, but a complete one ; and the 

 beginner who wishes to commence in a modest way with not more than one or two pairs, might do 

 worse than purchase this cage, with which he will be able to master the art of creeping before 

 learning to walk. 



But the cage we recommend is one with top, back, and sides of wood, the front only being 

 wired, a business-like-looking article, not got up for show, but for work. It can be made in one, 

 two, three, four, or any number of compartments ; though we don't advise an arrangement of odd 

 numbers, for reasons which will shortly appear. A single cage — that is, a cage of one compartment 

 and intended for the use of one pair of birds only — is known as a single-couple cage ; one with two 

 compartments is called a two-couple cage, and so on ; and in describing cages we shall adopt these 

 terms. A " stack " of cages is simply a multiplication of compartments, built either in one piece 

 or in sections; though when built in one piece it is more generally spoken of as an eight or sixteen- 

 couple cage, as the case may be, according to the number of pairs it is intended to accommodate, 

 and is understood to be one piece of furniture. 



The advantage of such a cage consists in the economising of material in its construction, the 

 top of one compartment serving as the bottom of another, and the same with the sides ; but the 

 disadvantage is the possibility of its becoming like Robinson Crusoe's boat. We always make our 

 own cages, and on one occasion, in the fulness of our zeal, entered on a twenty-couple arrange- 

 ment, which in the course of time we finished. It is not much to the point, but when we say we 

 don't intend to make another twenty-couple, it may, perhaps, convey a moral. We did just 

 manage to get it out of the room in which it was built, though how it was got up two pairs 

 of stairs into our bird-room we don't know, but we soon after received a bill for painting the walls. 

 A year or two afterwards we lent it to a friend who had just built himself a new house, and it was 

 set up in its new home before the hand-rails had been fitted to the staircases. At the close of the 

 season it came home sawn up into sections : he couldn't get it out of the window nor down the 

 stairs, and there was no alternative but to run the saw through it. Since then we have avoided 

 such unwieldy articles. 



Cages of somewhat smaller dimensions, say not exceeding four compartments, are very 

 handy, and are as easily moved about for the purposes of cleaning or for arranging in order 

 as are two-couple cages. We only propose to describe the latter, leaving it to the fancier to cut 

 his coat according to his cloth in the matter of multiplication. If it be desired to cover the entire 

 side of a room, we should recommend a stack built up of twos or fours ; while if it be wished to 

 fill up some corner or limited area, it may be advisable to build a six for the special purpose, or 

 just such a combination of twos as may suit. Or a breeder may wish to begin in a modest way 

 with a limited number of pairs, and have a desire to make his cage in one piece, even if it be a 

 little over the most handy size ; then let him make his cage to suit his requirements; but when all 

 is done it resolves itself into our original proposition, that all cages, whether in stacks or one piece, 

 are best made in combinations of twos, separate or united. Why not in threes .'' Simply because 

 it is not so easy in a combination of odd numbers to place the seed and water vessels so satis- 

 factorily as in an arrangement of twos, one drawback being that unless the water-tin of the centre 

 compartment be hung close to the seed-hopper, giving the whole a lop-sided appearance, it can 

 only be hung on the centre door; and there is, therefore, a possibility, which never ought to arise, 



