94 
CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
when the hatching ong-ht to commence : let plenty of food ■ 
be placed close to the nest overnig-ht^ and observe if she 
gets off to take it in the mornings when you feel assured i 
she ought to have her first chick out of the shell ; should ]; 
she not do this, nor the cock carry food to her, take her t 
gently off the nest, and let her see that there is plenty of | 
food, and one or more little yellow bills gaping for it; her I 
maternal instinct will inform her what she ought to do in J 
the case ; and having once fed her young, she will continue , 
to do so^ the cock will most likely also follow her ex- j 
ample. i 
While incubation is going on, take care that the room is 
kept quiet : even the violent shaking of a door may, it has 
been asserted, injure the young in the shell. When these 
are hatched, the male bird generally takes upon himself the 
responsibihty of providing them with food, as if to give the 
hen a little rest after her heavy duties. Should you find, 
as is sometimes the case, that the young are insufficiently 
fed, administer a little food, prepared of biscuit, grated fine, 
and crushed rape, mixed and moistened when wanted for 
use, with a little water and yolk of egg^ ; about four quills- - 
full of this is sufficient for each nestling at the time ; the 
frequency of its administration must depend upon the quan- 
tity of food given by the old birds ; if you have to bring 
up the young altogether by hand, ten or twelve times a day 
will not be too often. The young* canaries are almost des- 
titute of plumage until they are about twelve or fourteen 
days old, at which time the hen bird usually begins to pre- 
pare for a second brood, and has often built her nest, and 
laid her eggs before the first are fully fledged. According 
to some authorities, Bechstein among them, the growth of 
the feathers is promoted by the immersion of the young birds 
in a bath of lukewarm water ; this renders them, however, 
extremely liable to get a chill, and it is best, if you observe 
any backwardness in the development of the plumage, to 
take a syringe, filled with warm water, and standing at 
some distance, let it fall in a gentle spray over mother and 
young. It has been found that when a male canary has 
paired with two females, and one of them has died after 
laying, the other hen has received them into her nest, and 
sat and tecded on them as if they had been her own, even 
