Our  Canaries 
24 
and  the  other  wire  slide  withdrawn  to  give  him  access  to  the  hen  on  the  other  side 
until  the  evening  when  they  are  about  to  go  to  roost.  Then  he  is  once  more  shut 
off  from  both  hens  and  restricted  to  his  own  central  compartment  until  the  nests 
have  been  examined  again  the  next  morning.  In  this  way  it  is  not  necessary  to 
handle  the  birds  at  all,  and  there  is  the  minimum  amount  of  excitement  and 
fluttering  about  over  the  changes,  whilst  it  is  scarcely  a  whit  more  trouble  to  run 
each  finch  with  two  hens  simultaneously  than  to  limit  one's  efforts  to  a  single 
hen  with  each  finch. 
A  GREAT  SAVING  OF  TIME. 
The  same  principle  applies  equally  well  in  breeding  pure  Canaries  when  one 
desires  to  work  trios  of  birds  instead  of  pairs,  and  there  is  then  a  considerable 
saving  of  time  on  the  method  usually  adopted  of  allowing  the  cock  to  send 
one  hen  to  nest  and  commence  incubation  before  he  is  mated  at  all  with  the 
second  partner.  It  is  not  really  essential  that  the  pair  of  birds  should  be  together 
continually  for  the  clutch  of  eggs  to  be  completely  fertilised,  and  if  the  cock  bird  is 
run  with  two  hens  alternately  for  a  few  hours  each  day  as  suggested  there  is  no 
reason  whatever  why  both  clutches  of  eggs  should  not  be  fully  fertile. 
LARGE  CAGES. 
Larger  types  of  cages  with  more  numerous  separate  compartments,  such  as 
four,  six,  or  nine  compartment  cages,  may  be  best  described  as  consisting  of  the 
ordinary  double  or  triple  breeding  cage  as  a  base,  built  up  into  a  two  or  three  tier 
structure,  as  the  case  may  be.  Upon  the  whole  there  is  little  to  be  said  in  their 
favour.  Their  bulk  and  weight  are  serious  drawbacks  to  thorough  overhauling  at 
any  time  that  the  necessity  for  so  doing  might  arise,  whilst  they  do  not  possess  the 
merit  of  being  convertible  into  any  larger  space  for  groups  of  birds  to  fly  about  m 
than  their  smaller  prototypes.  Moreover,  the  modern  method  of  having  a  system 
of  shelves  (or  rack)  in  tiers,  to  hold  each  cage  separately,  and  at  the  same  time 
occupy  very  little  more  space  than  if  the  cages  were  all  in  one  solid  structure, 
possesses  such  unique  advantages  in  portability  as  to  render  these  unwieldy  articles 
absolute  and  wholly  undesirable. 
ALWAYS  USE  SAND-TRAYS. 
Whatever  type  of  cage  is  adopted  a  point  should  be  made  of  having  them 
fitted  with  sand-trays  to  slide  out  from  the  front.  The  turn-rail  which  is  often 
provided  on  the  moderately  priced  cages  is  better  than  nothing  at  all,  which  is 
frequently  the  extent  of  the  provision,  or  lack  of  provision,  made  for  cleaning  out 
the  cages  in  the  cheaper  types.  Of  course  where  no  provision  is  made  either  by  a 
turn-rail  or  sand-tray  the  only  method  of  cleaning  the  cage  is  by  inserting  the  hand 
and  a  scraper  through  the  open  doorway,  and  when  any  number  of  cages  has  to  be 
dealt  with  in  this  manner  the  occupation  is  only  too  apt  to  degenerate  into 
disagreeable  drudgery  rather  than  be  regarded  as  a  labour  of  love. 
