PAIRING. 



85 



fore the " coupling " for the purpose of " nesting," so that 

 they may become used to each other and not begin to 

 quarrel in the aviary. 



Period of the "Coupling." — Wild canaries, as men- 

 tioned previously, begin to breed in the middle of March. 

 Our cultured birds begin their nesting much earlier; and 

 where a space is provided which may be easily heated, the 

 hatch may be established in the middle of February. The 

 breeding-room will, in that case, have to be evenly heated 

 early and late, by day and by night, as uniformly as may 

 be feasible, because, if exposed to considerable variations of 

 temperature, the females will be subject to sickness caused 

 by stress of labour, and the males to abdominal inflammation, 

 from which causes both of them often perish. 



Warmer or colder climates will therefore have to be 

 taken into careful consideration (especially in breeding 

 delicate Hartz-birds), or, as is done in the Hartz, couple them 

 about carnival-time, and, by means of careful and strong 

 and even heating, protect the birds from similar dangers. 

 A space which cannot be heated should, in cold climes, 

 never be peopled with its feathered inmates before the 

 month of April. 



Pairing. — As a general rule, a space of 1'50 to 2 cubic 

 metres are allotted to one male and three females for the 

 purpose of " coupling," and where a larger space is at dis- 

 posal the allowance will be correspondingly increased. 

 With regard to the number of females, the opinions of 

 breeders are widely different. 



The success obtained in the Hartz breed proves, it is true, 

 that one male may conveniently " nest " with four, or more 

 successive females, and may be attended by favourable re- 

 sults. Mr. L. Martin goes rather too far in asserting that poly- 

 gamy may have possibly an enervating, i.e., debilitating effect 

 upon the canary. R. Maschke likewise defends monogamy. 



