146 
Our  Canaries 
or  she  may  be  a  strong,  vigorous  bird  and  a  free  breeder,  and  in  each  instance  she 
may  be  allowed  a  third  brood.  Similarly,  a  commoner  bird  in  the  same 
circumstances  may  be  allowed  to  go  to  nest  a  fourth  time.  But  a  fourth  brood 
should  never  be  really  encouraged,  and  should  rather  be  regarded  as  one,  or 
perhaps  two,  broods  stolen  from  the  following  season.  The  greater  the  number 
of  broods  beyond  a  third  taken  from  any  hen  in  one  year  the  less  may  one  expect 
from  that  individual  hen  in  the  next  season,  if  not  in  every  season  that  is  to 
follow.    It  very  often  means  closing  prematurely  a  hen's  career  of  usefulness. 
LENGTH  OF  THE  BREEDING  SEASON. 
Assuming  that  three  broods  are  hatched  all  round,  the  total  length  of  the 
breeding  need  not  extend  beyond  five  months.  The  actual  length  will  depend  more 
upon  the  early  beginning  than  upon  the  close,  which  has  a  well-defined  limit 
imposed  upon  it  in  all  save  quite  exceptional  cases — the  exceptions  inevitably  crop 
up  in  every  side  branch  to  prove  the  rule — by  the  natural  moulting  period,  the 
approach  of  which  at  once  closes  the  breeding  season  by  removing  all  parental  desires 
from  the  birds  for  the  time  being.  Even  if  there  are  half-grown  young  in  the  nest 
when  the  parents  drop  into  moult,  the  chances  are  all  in  favour  of  them  being  left 
incontinently  by  the  parents,  either  to  die,  or  to  be  transferred  to  a  kinder  foster 
parent,  or  reared  by  hand,  as  the  owner  may  decide,  or  have  opportunities  for 
doing.  Consequently  it  is  wasting  the  vigour  of  the  birds  for  no  useful  purpose 
to  encourage  nesting  to  be  carried  on  until  the  parents  are  overtaken  with 
moulting  or  are  likely  to  commence  before  there  is  a  fair  chance  of  any  young 
that  are  hatched  being  out  of  the  nest  and  able  to  do  for  themselves. 
Late  breeding  should  therefore  be  consistently  discouraged,  and  every 
opportunity  taken  from  about  the  end  of  July  onwards  to  break  up  pairs  and  stop 
breeding  operations,  in  order  to  give  the  birds  a  little  time  to  recuperate  their 
strength  before  the  moult  commences. 
CARE  OF  STOCK  BIRDS. 
This  consideration  for  the  well-being  of  the  stock  birds  must  indeed  be  a 
standing  feature  of  one's  treatment  all  round  the  year.  Upon  it  will  depend  a 
great  deal  of  the  success  both  in  quantity  and  quality  which  one  will  be  able  to 
attain  in  the  hobby.  The  general  health  and  high  condition  of  the  parent  stock 
will  find  its  reflection  in  the  vigour  and  stamina  of  the  progeny,  as  well  as  in  the 
increased  power  of  the  parents  to  transmit  their  own  typical  perfections  to  their 
young  It  thus  becomes  a  matter  of  great  and  far-reaching  importance  to  devote 
the  strictest  attention  to  these  birds,  which,  though  they  may  not  be  quite  so 
aristocratic  in  appearance  as  the  cream  of  the  show  birds,  are,  nevertheless,  the 
originators  of  the  latter,  and  capable  of  producing  more  like  them.  If  they  are 
themselves  show  birds,  care  must  be  taken  not  to  overshow  them,  particularly 
towards  the  end  of  the  show  season,  when  the  breeding  season  will  be  once  more 
approaching. 
