Supply of Seed. ' '35 



freely, but have to be pulled down, it has the merit of not being able to swing open ; for we 

 have known birds play with the internal fastenings of doors and inadvertently open them. 

 A reference to the cut will show the construction and working better than any verbal description, 

 but it will be seen that after making the eyes to the several wires (which is done with a pair 

 of pointed pliers) and bending them over at right angles, they must be kept in the same straight 

 line while being turned up at the bottom and pinched on to the frame on which the entire 

 fabric works, or the door will not slide at all, or only with difficulty. Success depends entirely 

 on true work. And further, the upper strengthening cross-wire must be placed sufficiently high 

 to admit of the door travelling, or the consequences will be obvious. A sliding door, let it 

 be observed, is not a necessity ; an ordinary swing door can be made, but nothing is gained 

 by it, and it requires some amount of skill and practice to turn out one which has not the 

 trade-mark, " home-made," stamped on every wire. 



Some, to whom the construction of a breeding-cage is no novelty, will perhaps observe 

 that we have made no reference to egg-drawers and a few et catcras, which sometimes are 

 united to it. We prefer to supply them by inside attachments, though we by no means object 

 to their being made fixtures. One way is as handy as the other. We always like to see the front 



KIG. II. — SEED-HOPPER. 



of a cage cut up as little as possible, though sundry useful contrivances, such as neat earthen- 

 ware egg-drawers, can be inserted in the front, and are very convenient for general purposes. 

 Experience will suggest many things of this kind, which it is quite unnecessary to enter into 

 here, their adoption or rejection being matters of taste and ingenuity. 



Two appliances only are now necessary to make our cage tenantable — the seed-hopper 

 and water-vessels, of which we give illustrations. It is not necessary to furnish any specific 

 dimensions for a hopper, but when we say that it must be made long enough to cover both sets 

 of seed-holes, it will be obvious that to fit our cage and system of wiring, it will require to be 

 six inches in length. The depth is immaterial, but from an inch to an inch and a half is ample, 

 with a width of say two inches. There is nothing gained by increasing these dimensions, except 

 that the hopper requires more seed to fill it. It makes no difference in the consumption. There 

 is a fashion in hoppers as in many other things, the front being sometimes carried round in a 

 curve, or cut off at an acute angle ; that in our illustration is, we think, as easy to make and 

 looks as well as any. The two sloping ends are grooved for the reception of a piece of glass or 

 perforated zinc, which prevents the birds throwing out the seed — a thing they will do apparently 

 in sport, or in wanton waste, whenever a fresh supply is given, And very clever they are in doing 

 it ; just one sharp peck of the beak, and away goes the seed in all directions. It is well also to 

 have an inside partition in these double hoppers, when used to supply seed to two compartments, 

 in each of which there is a cock : it prevents any fighting through the seed-holes. 



