58 



CANARY BIRDS. 



will, on the contrary, endeavour to arrange the dwel- 

 lings of his pets as comfortably as may be feasible. 

 First of all, the cage should be as roomy as possible, while 

 the shape is not of any material consequence ; only that 

 round or "tower" cages should be 

 carefully avoided, because, in them, 

 all birds are uncomfortable, and many 

 of them even become giddy and 

 dazed ; moreover, these cages are not 

 easily hung up everywhere, especially 

 against walls, so that the song of the 

 bird is heard in the immediate prox- 

 imity, and this is often unpleasant, 

 and, sometimes in the case of the 

 common canary, positively unbear- 

 able. The cage for the single canary 

 should be from 12 to 20 in. high, 12 

 to 20 in. long, and from 8 to 11 in. 

 deep ; but the size may be somewhat smaller or larger. Cages 

 wherein everything, except the sitting-poles, are of metal, 

 being the most appropriate, but one should utterly avoid 

 the handsome-looking brass cages, because moisture which 

 the bird spills while drinking or bathing, may easily pro- 

 duce verdigris and thus cause poisoning. Small, prettily 

 lacquered cages of zinc, or composed entirely of tin wire, are 

 best. The thinner the wire is, the platting should be the 

 more closely worked, for on no account should the bird be 

 able to put his head through. The platwork had best be 

 round or loop-shaped, of a width of J inch, although a hand- 

 some stave-railing will look better. The sitting-poles should 

 be made of a wood which is not too hard ; the pole should 

 also be neither too thin, nor too smoothly rounded. Linden 

 or hazel-wood will be most suitable, and it should be of a 

 thickness of about J inch, so that the bird's foot can only 



TOWER CAGE. 



