Our  Canaries 
71 
As  the  result  of  the  practical  test  of  sufficient  length  to  show  some  effect, 
good  or  bad,  Mr.  Pretty's  experience  is  of  special  interest.  "It  is  now  two 
years,"  he  writes,  "  since  I  started  keeping  Canaries  out  of  doors.  I  have 
never  regretted  it.  There  is  one  unpleasant  thing  about  it,  namely,  having 
to  stand  out  in  the  snow  and  rain  to  feed  and  water  them.  But  the  health 
and  stamina  of  the  birds  pay  for  the  unpleasantness.  My  cages  are  24  inches 
long,  12  inches  deep,  and  20  inches  high.  If  I  had  new  ones  made  for  outdoor 
work,  I  would  have  them  18  inches  deep,  and  all  the  wirework  galvanised, 
as  the  exposure  to  all  weathers  plays  sad  havoc  with  the  wirework.  There  should 
be  only  two  perches,  placed  as  far  apart  as  possible,  and  the  food  and  water 
should  be  placed  inside,  between  the  perches,  where  the  droppings  cannot 
get  into  it.  For  seed  and  water  vessels  I  use  the  deepest  penny  salt  glasses 
I  can  get." 
SIMPLE  LIFE  ARISTOCRATS. 
"  I  breed  out  of  doors,"  continues  our  correspondent,  '*  Crests,  Lancashires, 
Norwich  Plainheads,  Yorkshires,  and  Cinnamon.  I  breed  more  birds  out  in 
the  open  than  I  breed  indoors.  The  only  covering  they  have  is  the  cage  top 
covered  with  tarred  felt,  showing  what  the  natural  elements  will  do  for  the 
birds.  The  best  time  to  put  them  out  is  the  end  of  February  or  early  in 
March  after  we  have  had  some  severe  weather.  Of  course,  the  birds  would 
be  taken  from  a  cold  room.  The  food  should  consist  of  Canary  and  German 
rape.  A  fourth  part  of  a  teaspoonful  of  maw  seed  should  be  given  every 
day  in  very  cold  weather,  and  a  fourth  part  of  a  teaspoonful  of  hemp  may 
also  be  given,  but  do  not  overdo  it  or  you  will  get  the  birds  too  fat.  All 
birds  intended  for  show  should  be  caught  up  in  the  middle  of  July  and 
moulted  indoors,  as  it  is  impossible  to  keep  birds  in  show  form  in  towns  out 
of  doors." 
From  this  account  it  is  clear  that  outdoor  work  is  by  no  means  restricted 
to  the  most  plebeian  type  of  Canary,  as  we  have  here  some  of  the  highest  types, 
which  have  often  been  considered  difficult  to  manage  indoors.  There  are  indeed 
very  few  breeds,  not  excepting  the  Dutch  Frill  as  the  latest  addition  to  the  list  of 
fancy  varieties,  which  have  not  been  bred  and  kept  outdoors,  notwithstanding  the 
general  opinion  that  only  the  hardiest  and  commonest  of  stock  are  suitable 
for  the  work. 
FRILLS  WITHOUT  CURLS. 
If  there  is  one  variety  less  suitable  than  all  others  for  an  outdoor  life  in 
our  variable  and  damp  climate  it  is  probably  the  Dutch  Frill,  and  that  not  so 
much  by  reason  of  any  inability  of  a  physical  nature,  as  from  the  fact  that  the 
frills  need  a  dry  atmosphere  to  appear  at  their  best.  The  curls  in  the  plumage 
are  doubtless  affected  by  moisture  to  a  certain  extent  in  just  the  same  way  as  an 
artificially  curled  feather,  but  the  plumage  attached  to  the  living  bird  has  the 
