Our  Canaries 
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pattern,  that  is,  with  wire  only  in  front,  and  the  top,  back,  sides,  and  bottom  of 
wood,  are  quite  the  ideal  for  all  general  purposes,  whether  it  be  in  the  small  way 
of  keeping  a  bird  or  two  for  song,  or  in  the  larger  way  when  the  owner  breeds  a 
number  of  birds  for  pleasure,  profit,  or  for  exhibition  purposes. 
THE  ORTHODOX  BREEDING  CAGE. 
For  breeding  purposes  this  principle  has  already  been  very  generally  adopted, 
so  that  we  now  find  the  orthodox  breeding  cages  on  the  market  are,  in  nearly 
every  case,  those  of  the  box  type,  with  more  or  less  trivial  variations.  One  of 
the  most  notable  exceptions  to  be  met  with,  which  is  not  saying  it  is  really  in 
much  use,  is  a  cage  which  is  a  kind  of  improvement  upon  the  real  old-fashioned 
London  breeding  cage  which  has  descended  to  us  from  the  good  old  days  when  the 
London  Fancy  and  the  Lizards  were  the  most  popular  favourites  among  the  old 
Spitalfields  weavers,  or  even,  may  be,  from  an  earlier  date.  The  chief  improve- 
ments lie  in  the  fact  that,  whereas  the  London  cage  which  has  a  body  of  the 
modern  box  type  fitted  inside  with  enclosed  boxes  for  the  hens  to  nest  in,  to 
which  the  birds  gain  admission  by  circular  holes  cut  out  of  one  side  of  each  com- 
partment leading  into  the  cage,  this  design  is  made  as  an  open  wire  cage,  with 
a  plain  wooden  platform  occupying  a  position  corresponding  to  the  floor  space 
of  the  nesting  compartments  of  the  older  type  upon  which  either  ordinary  nest 
boxes  minus  the  hanging  back,  or  earthenware  nest  pans  may  be  placed. 
MODERN   v.  ANCIENT. 
The  advantage  such  a  cage  has  over  the  old  London  cage  is  very  considerable 
in  preventing  the  infestation  of  the  cages  with  insect  pests,  and  in  dealing  with 
and  eradicating  such  pests  should  they  by  any  means  become  established.  Their 
sole  disadvantage  is  that  they  are  unsuited  to  any  position  save  a  fairly  quiet  one, 
and  a  cosy  and  comfortable  room  where  piercing  draughts  are  unknown.  The 
size  of  this  cage  for  a  single  pair  of  birds  is  22  in.  long,  12  in.  wide,  and  16J  in. 
high.  The  wooden  platform  is  movable,  and  at  the  end  of  the  breeding  season 
it  may  be  taken  out  and  the  cage  used  as  a  single  compartment  flight  cage  for 
stock  birds  during  the  winter  months,  or  again,  two  wire  slides  may  be  inserted 
across  the  centre  one  above  the  other  (the  cross-bar  running  round  the  centre 
of  the  cage  to  hold  the  wires  in  position  prevents  a  single  slide  being  pushed  in) 
and  the  cage  thereby  made  into  two  compartments,  each  with  a  floor  space  of  12 
inches  long  and  lo-^  inches  wide,  in  each  of  which,  given  strict  attention  to 
cleanliness,  two  birds  may  be  moulted. 
The  London  breeding  cage,  whatever  good  service  it  may  have  rendered  in 
the  past,  is  now  so  badly  out  of  date  that  it  should  be  avoided  altogether,  and 
allowed  to  become  an  obsolete  relic  of  past  ages.  But  it  still  commands 
sufficient  sale  to  induce  manufacturers  to  keep  it  on  the  market.  Doubtless  its 
nicely  furnished  appearance,  and  the  "  tricky "  internal  arrangements,  are  what 
