304 



British Cage Birds. 



They are hardy, and will live in confinement for a number 

 of years, if properly cared for and their wants regularly 

 attended to. 



Bearing the Young. — Do not take them until they are well- 

 feathered. Feed them in all respects the same as young Eobins 

 or Nightingales. They require very little food at a time, but 

 must be fed frequently. They must be kept warm. Rear 

 them in a basket with a lid, in the original nest. Out the top, 

 to make it open and close like a lid, so that you may feed the 

 broodlings the more easily. When they can perch, put them 

 into a large cage, closely wired ; one made of wood, with a 

 wire front, is preferable to any other kind. Strew the bottom 

 of the cage with fine gravel and sand, and, until such time as 

 the birds can feed themselves, put in some dry moss and hay, 

 cut very short, as the birds will cluster together among this 

 at night time and keep each other warm. 



Distinguishing Maeks of Cock and Hen. — The hen is 

 smaller in size than the cock, and is of a reddish brown 

 colour throughout, excepting the lines or stripes on the wings, 

 tail, and abdomen. The legs and feet of the hen bird incline 

 to yellow. 



Song. — The Common Wren sings during ten months of the 

 year, and its song is much admired by a great many people, 

 as, though it is short, it is agreeable, and very sonorous. 



Points to be Observed in Judging.— The Common Wren 

 is not a show bird in the common acceptation of the term. 

 The chief points to be observed are shape, purity and vividness 

 of colour, distinctness of markings, a full, bright eye, closeness 

 and compactness of feather, condition, and cleanliness. 



General Eemarks. — Common Wrens may be kept either in 

 cages or aviaries, but the wires must be very close ; and, as they 

 are such ''wee mites," and so keen sighted, it will be necessary 

 to see that no aperture is left sufficiently large to admit of 

 their escape. They make splendid aviary birds, being active 

 and lively, energetic in their movements, tractable, of prettily 

 variegated plumage, easily reconciled to domesticity, and quite 

 contented so long as they are freely and plentifully supplied 

 with the various kinds of provender necessary for sustaining 

 life. 



Diseases and their Treatment. — The Common Wren does 

 not seem particularly liable to disease, being of a contented 



