The Front of the Cage. 



29 



disadvantage of a framed front is that, unless it fits absolutely close all over, it affords a 

 harbour for insects between it and the edges of the box. It will be inferred that we advocate 

 the permanent front. We do decidedly, and set about making it in this way: — Plane up three 

 pieces of clean stuff, free from knots, the precise length of the box from outer edge to outer 

 edge, and of the exact thickness: two of them must be an inch and a half wide, and the other 

 three-eighths, which will make it exactly square. These are for the top cross-piece, the bottom 

 cross-piece, and the middle cross-bar. Fit the top cross-piece immediately under the top of 

 the box, cutting slots in the sides and centre partition to receive it. Be careful not to make 

 the slots too wide or too deep : it is easy to take off a shaving, but not so easy to put one on, 

 and these cross-pieces and bar must fit close and tight, and be flush with the front edge. Fix 

 the bottom piece in the same manner one inch from the bottom of the front. This will leave 

 a space of fourteen inches between the two. Now let in the cross-bar neatly, and exactly 

 square, six inches above the bottom piece, and having ascertained that everything fits just 

 as it should, and that there is nothing which requires altering in any way, take out these three 

 pieces, and having marked off on one of them with a pair of compasses the position of the wire- 





FIO. 5.— TURN-RAIL. 



holes half an inch apart from centre to centre, clamp the three tightly together, and mark them 

 across with a pencil and square, drawing the line through each point with the greatest care, for on 

 this depends the accuracy of the wiring. Nothing looks more unbusiness-like than a badly-wired 

 cage, and the operation is really so simple that there is no excuse for doing it otherwise than 

 with the greatest exactness and regularity. Having set off' the spaces, run a line down the centre 

 from end to end, and prick the wire-holes on the cross-lines at the intersecting points, using for 

 the purpose a bradawl one size smaller than No. 16 or No. 17 galvanised wire, and either 

 shortened to half an inch in length or loaded with pieces of leather till but that portion of the 

 length remains. This ensures the holes being of uniform depth, and they can then be pierced 

 with a single thrust, without any boring or twisting motion of the pricker. Any one can prick 

 a hole, but to bore it perpendicularly is another matter ; and it must be remembered that, in 

 pricking the middle cross-piece, the awl must be kept perfectly upright, or the wires will enter 

 the upper surface apparently in the right direction and come out on the lower in another, when it 

 will be found that the more they are coaxed the more they won't go where they are wanted. But 

 a little care will prevent any irregularity of this kind. In pricking the holes in the bottom cross- 

 piece, it is best not to make any in the middle, on the portion over which the door will stand. 

 It may seem unnecessary to call attention to such a trifling matter, but unnecessary holes are 

 the very places in which insects take up their abode ; and in case of the Canary parasite, to 

 which we shall by-and-by have to refer, getting into the cage, these unnecessary holes will all 



