ARRANGEMENTS FOR NESTING. 



65 



breeding these species of canaries, as well as for all colour- 

 birds and bastards, are the so-called " box " cages which are 

 already being pretty generally introduced, and in which 

 some breeders have achieved extraordinary success. A cage 

 of this kind consists of a box made of very light wood, and 

 it has, at least, twice the circumference of the cage allotted 

 to a single bird, and is railed in on one side only, while the 

 three side-walls, as well as the roof and the floor, are con- 

 structed of boards. The drawer of zinc must, as in the 

 former cases, be easy to open and to shut, and must have a 

 flap descending over it ; the feeding and drinking-vessels 

 are simply placed on the bottom of the 

 drawer. The whole interior space is thickly 

 coated with white, resp. black, lacquer, and 

 the outside is varnished according to fancy, 

 but generally green ; the nests are fastened hartz drink- 

 against the back and at each of the sides • ING VESSEL - 

 and there is an easy slide or a descending flap suffi- 

 ciently large to make the nests 

 easy of access and observation. 

 The box - cage therefore re- 

 sembles, in all essentials, the 

 drinking vessel. ordinary breeding - cage, only 



with the exception that it is closed on three sides. 

 Arrangements for Nesting. — The nests themselves 



consist in small, but not too small, wooden baskets of the 

 well-known size (as in the cut), loosely lined, inside, with 

 soft tissue paper, among which a pretty large quantity of 

 insect-powder is thrown, and the whole is then sewn over 

 with linen. These basket-nests, w 7 hich are from 3^ to 4 

 inches in diameter, and about 2J inches deep, are more to 

 be recommended than the somewhat cheaper straw or paste- 

 nest, because they are more durable and more easily 

 cleaned than the latter. They are also more practical than 



E 



