Pairing and Building. 51 



necessity for any previous acquaintance, and as for putting the cock in one cage and the hen in 

 another and allowing them to scrape acquaintance through the wires — the thing, in a large establish- 

 ment, would be practically impossible. We have read somev/here that the cock should be placed 

 face to the wall, opposite his hen, in a cage with a wooden bade, having a circular hole in it just large 

 enough to allow of his putting his head through, when he will commence his love-making across 

 the room, and must be conducted in the most gradual way to his hen, until she is made acquainted 

 with his entire personal appearance, from his head to his tail. We really have not patience to 

 comment on such nonsense : it is simply the veriest twaddle. The probability is that when the 

 birds are first put together they will quarrel, but it is not always the case. It arises from the fact 

 that the cock bird is always the first to make advances towards a more intimate acquaintance, and 

 the hen, as is fit and proper, with becoming modesty repels them. If he be a bird who has spent his 

 winter wisely in studying bird-nature in the large flight-cage, he will commence by admiring the 

 nest and giving, his opinion on things in general, and will coax his hen with presents of dainty 

 morsels and a display of polite gallantry; but if he begins at once to be too familiar, and the first 

 song he sings is " Oh ! name the day, the happy day," she will thrash him, or try to do so. But it 

 is the same old, old story over again, and we all know how it ends. In a few days they will have 

 settled matters to their mutual satisfaction, and then begins the serious business of life. It is not, 

 however, always so. Some hens take a settled aversion to a particular cock and will never pair 

 with him ; but these viragoes are very rare, and though they may succeed in knocking all the 

 nonsense out of one cock, they generally meet their match in the end. And there are exceptionally 

 badly-behaved cocks, though the cases on either side are so seldom met with, that the fact of their 

 existence is no reason why valuable time should be cut to waste in pairing a lot of birds by rule. 

 Still, we have known cocks that would literally scalp their hens, and we once had a Lizard hen that 

 half-murdered her mate, and would have finished him if we had not interfered. She used to drive 

 him under the egg-trough, on which she would sit like a cat watching a mouse, and say, as plainly 

 as she could say it, "If you put your head out, I'll have you as sure as you are a Lizard ;" and she 

 did " have " him frequently, by stooping from the perch and picking him up by the top of the head 

 and swinging him backwards and forwards underneath. But ninety-nine per cent, of Canaries pair 

 as naturally as possible, and the breeder will not have long to wait before he begins to see evident 

 signs of their having come to the determination to go through life hand in hand, for better or for 

 worse — for better, let him hope ; and a fancier should have hope prominently developed in his 

 cerebral economy. 



The first indication of the birds having come to an understanding is the cock feeding his mate. 

 The Canary belongs to a class of birds which feed from the crop. We should have mentioned that, 

 as soon as the birds are put together, they must be supplied with a mixture of chopped egg and 

 bread-crumbs, or z^^ and crushed biscuit, with just a little crushed hemp-seed mixed with it as a 

 stimulating diet. The cock will, in reply to the invitation of the hen, which is made by a rapid 

 fliuttering of the wings, accompanied by a low twittering, constantly feed her by disgorging the 

 contents of his crop ; and if, in addition to the soft food, a little chickweed, groundsel, watercress, 

 or lettuce be furnished, or, failing this, a small piece of the tender heart of a cabbage, he 

 will be all the more assiduous in his endeavours to keep her constantly supplied with food. 

 Meanwhile she will begin to show signs of a desire to build. If she have only a felt nest, she will 

 pull and tug at it the day through, constantly getting into it and " scuffling " with her feet and 

 wings in her endeavours to adapt it for use. Now is the time to supply nesting-stuff in the shape 

 of moss and soft hair, but only very sparingly, because till she begins to build in real earnest, she 

 will only waste the stuff to an unlimited extent. So long as there is any hair or moss between 



