^4  '  Our  Canaries 
Nature's  substitute  for  the  fires  and  hot-water  bottles  of  civilisation,  and  the  freer 
and  more  rapid  the  motion  of  the  body,  the  greater  the  amount  of  heat  evolved 
within.  But  exercise,  worthy  of  the  name,  must  be  something  more  than  the 
tame  affair  of  hopping  to  and  fro  between  two  perches,  at  a  distance  of  four  or 
five  inches  apart,  as  is  not  infrequently  the  case  in  some  of  the  spirit-cramping 
affairs  which  possess  the  courtesy  title  of  cages. 
For  breeding  cages  the  minimum  size  has  been  given  in  the  proper  place. 
These,  however,  should  be  converted  into  flights  as  soon  as  the  breeding  season 
is  at  an  end  by  removal  of  the  partitions,  and  these,  and  all  store  cages  for  winter 
use  made  as  large  as  circumstances  will  allow.  Do  not  overcrowd  them  with 
perches.  Aim  rather  at  inducing  the  birds  to  take  a  "  flying  hop,"  as  it  were,  from 
one  to  another,  by  placing  the  perches  at  such  a  distance  apart  that  the  birds 
naturally  half  expand  the  wings  to  help  them  to  pass  over  the  space  between 
them.  If  a  still  larger  space  can  be  given,  so  that  a  long  space  exists  between 
two  distinct  groups  of  perches,  so  much  the  better. 
In  the  case  of  the  Northern  Belgian  fancier  just  referred  to,  it  is  fresh  in 
our  memory,  that  his  winter  flight  cage  had  a  space  of  six  feet  across  the  centre 
wholly  without  perches,  across  which  the  birds  had  to  fly  to  pass  from  one  group 
of  perches  at  one  end  of  the  flight,  to  a  similar  group  at  the  opposite  side.  This 
is  the  kind  of  exercise  which  all  may  at  least  aim  to  provide  for  the  birds  when 
not  caged  up  for  breeding,  though  it  goes  without  saying,  comparatively  few  will 
be  able  to  reach  this  ideal  standard.  In  all  other  kinds  of  cages  for  keeping  the 
birds  in  permanently,  the  same  rule  should  be  adopted  within  reasonable  limits. 
PARASITES   AND  INSECTICIDE. 
Our  domestic  canaries  are  by  no  means  exempt  from  the  universal  law  of 
forming  a  host  of  various  forms  of  a  lower  order  of  parasitical  life.  On  the 
contrary  their  usual  close  confinement  often  in  badly  lit,  poorly  ventilated,  and 
close,  stuffy  quarters,  renders  them  peculiarly  liable  to  attacks  of  these  pests, 
unless  the  most  scrupulous  attention  is  paid  to  cleanliness,  hygiene,  and  condition 
of  the  birds. 
Internal  parasites  are  by  no  means  rare  in  small  birds,  but  still  cannot  be 
called  common.  These  pests  will  find  a  more  fitting  place  for  dealing  with,  in 
the  chapter  on  diseases,  and  we  need  only  refer  here  to  the  two  chief  external 
parasites  which  are  in  themselves  a  real  scourge  to  the  birds — to  wit,  the  red  mite 
and  the  grey  louse. 
Both  these  parasites  are  extremely  common  among  neglected  stocks  of  birds, 
and  are,  in  consequence,  too  well-known  to  need  any  lengthy  description.  But 
there  exists,  nevertheless,  a  good  deal  of  confusion  regarding  the  habits  and 
manner  of  dealing  with  the  two  pests.  As  a  description  it  will  suffice  to  say  that 
the  red  mite  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a  tiny  insect  of  a  deep  red  or  crimson  colour 
