10 
CAGE AND SINGING 13I11DS. 
slum observation. The practice of hanging- larks and other 
birds out at a window in a small cage open on all sides, and 
so fully exposed alike to the burning rays of the sun and the 
chilling winds, cannot be too strongly reprehended. Great 
suffering must be at times endured by the little prisoners, 
whose exposure, when in a wild state, to the atmospheric 
influences, is counteracted by the exercise of limb and 
muscle, which it is unable to take in the cage ; this, there- 
fore, should always be covered at the top when the sun is 
shining very brightly, and muffled at the side on which the 
wind sets with green baize, or other thick material, in dull 
and gusty weather. In wet weather the cage should not be 
put out at all, except now and then during a gentle 
summer shower, which is likely to be succeeded by sun- 
shine. 
Among the materials for bird cages we have heard glass 
suggested, and we see not why it should not be employed 
with advantage. Most ladies like to see their feathered pets, 
and how delightful to have them in a miniature crystal 
palace, where their every motion could be watched ! The 
material is capable of being wrought into such beautiful 
forms and combinations, and is so cheap; surely the idea, 
in this age of art-manufactures, is worthy of a practical 
application. For young bu^ds, which are apt to hurt them- 
selves against the wires by frisking and sporting about, a 
Net Cage should be provided. This can easily be made of 
an old common cage out of which the wires have been taken, 
and a covering of tine net substituted. 
What are called School Cages are sometimes used for a 
number of birds. These are boxes, having a wire front, and 
solid back and sides, divided into a number of compart- 
ments, each of which is tenanted by a single bird, to which 
access may be obtained by means of a little door at the back 
of its dormitory. There may be several tiers of these apart- 
ments, and a smgle shding bottom and feeding trough does 
for each tier, going through the whole length : thus, where 
it is desirable to economize space, they may rise one above 
another like a nest of drawers, and form a sort of bird- 
barracks. A single preceptor, a good lark or nightingale, 
may be the drill sergeant for the whole company of occupants, 
however numerous 5 the little pupils, not being able to see 
