66 Canaries and Cage-Birds. 



tail on strictly scientific principles, taking care to keep his centre of gravity well within his base, 

 he dispenses his charities to the clamorous applicants, giving each his fair share, and never, under 

 any circumstances, losing his temper. 



Nor is this mischievous practice of plucking confined to the hen, but is frequently indulged in 

 by the young birds among themselves in the flight-cage, where it takes, if possible, a worse form, 

 inasmuch as they do not content themselves with plucking the small feathers, for which they have 

 no use, but make the strong quills of the wings and tail the object of their attack. Any one whose 

 acquaintance with feathers has been of even the most superficial character will have noticed that 

 when the stronger quills are growing they are full of liquid, and if accidentally drawn, the blood 

 follows in considerable quantity. When the quill becomes matured, this ceases to be the case. It 

 is when the young birds are first turned into the flight, and before the wings and tail and stronger 

 feathers of the tail-coverts are grown, that the persecution is carried on ; and the mode of action is 

 beautifully simple. You observe a bird quietly seated at the end of a perch, close to the back of 

 the cage ; he is a bird of a retiring disposition and meditative turn of mind, is very young, and the 

 proprietor of about one inch of tail. Some of his companions are older, and versed in the ways 

 of a wicked world by at least fourteen days more experience. One of them sidles up to him in an 

 insinuating sort of way, betokening mischief, and looks him over in an impertinent manner. He 

 is a bird of delicate tastes, has a sweet tooth, and knows what is nice; and will, if he goes on at 

 his present rate, probably be soon a candidate for the sick ward. The way in which he puts 

 his head down and peers under and over little Verdant Green's tail is the embodiment of cool 

 impudence ; and before you can see how the thing is done, out comes a juicy feather, which he 

 turns over in his mouth like a choice cigar, evidently with a keen relish, and having finished it, 

 marks his man down in a remote corner and repeats the operation. The appearance of the latest 

 arrival's tail naturally attracts a considerable amount of attention, and the force of bad example 

 is quickly apparent. There were but twelve feathers in the inch of tail to begin with, and as 

 there are now two missing from one side, some friend commences on the other side to restore the 

 balance ; and as birds don't usually do things by halves, they soon finish him up entirely, stripping 

 him bare, literally not leaving him a feather to fly with — a most pitiable spectacle, bleeding 

 profusely from every wound. This is not in the slightest degree over-drawn, and it does not take 

 long either to bring about the catastrophe. When a bird begins to be so maltreated, it must be 

 removed at once, for its feathers will never be permitted to grow. It will live in a state of chronic 

 nakedness, absolutely more bare than when, scarcely a month before, it issued from its shell. 

 Nothing, we may add, tends to check this so much as keeping large pots of chickweed as full of 

 seed as it can be gathered, little trees of groundsel, and shepherd's purse in the cage ; but it is a 

 nasty infectious trick, and only too common. 



This digression on plucking has thrown us out of our track a little, but remembering that our 

 hen going to nest for her second " round " was the occasion of it, brings us to our starting-point 

 again. As at the close of autumn the seasons appear to overlap each other, and the gardener in 

 the pursuit of his calling seems to wish to do two things at the same time, and occupy the same 

 piece of ground with two crops, so we seem to want to do two things at the same time in our cage. 

 We want the hen to be attending to one brood and laying the foundation for a second ; and we 

 want the cock also to be in two places at once — that is, with the young nest as well as with the 

 hen. The only way is to effect a compromise, by running him in to his hen for a short time night 

 and morning ; when she has laid her third &g% he can be removed altogether and put in constant 

 charge of the young birds, which, by the time the hen is ready to hatch, will be quite able to do 

 without him altogether. 



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