Our  Canaries 
THE  LAYING  PERIOD. 
Although  no  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down  as  to  when  the  first  egg 
should  be  due,  it  may  generally  be  looked  for  within  fourteen  days  from  the 
putting  of  the  birds  together  if,  of  course,  they  were  in  the  requisite  high  condition 
above  described.  In  some  cases  the  first  egg  will  appear  in  a  week,  whilst  in 
others  egg-laying  may  be  deferred  for  a  month.  In  the  latter  event  the  hen 
will  be  found  to  have  been  probably  not  so  forward  as  was  suspected ;  such  a  hen 
should  be  fed  a  little  more  generously. 
After  pairing  takes  place,  which  may  be  immediately  upon  the  birds  being 
introduced  to  each  other,  a  careful  observer  will  notice  a  gradually  increasing 
fulness  about  the  hen  from  the  set-on  of  the  thighs  to  the  under-tail  coverts. 
When  this  has  gone  on  for  some  days 
and  the  hen  grows  less  energetic  in  the 
building  operations,  and  begins  to  look 
sluggish  towards  evening,  an  egg  may,  in 
most  cases,  be  looked  for  the  following 
morning.  But  if  it  is  not  discovered,  and 
the  hen  still  presents  her  usual  appear- 
ance (or  very  nearly  so),  do  not  interfere. 
Simply  take  a  peep  into  the  nest  and 
the  bottom  of  the  cage  each  morning  after- 
wards until  the  expected  has  happened. 
A  Device  to  Defeat  Egg-Eating  Birds.  The  normal  Conditions  now  are  for 
an  egg  to  be  laid  each  morning  until 
five  have  been  deposited.  Perfectly  normal  clutches  may  vary  from  four  to  six 
in  number  ;  and  in  exceptional  cases  as  low  as  three,  or  as  many  as  eight  may 
be  the  number.  Occasionally  two  eggs  may  be  laid  on  consecutive  days  ;  then  a 
day  missed,  and  two  more  laid  consecutively.  Abnormalities  occur  where  only 
one  or  two  eggs  are  laid,  and  others  where  this  number  is  laid,  and  no  more  for 
a  week  or  so.  These  latter  cases  are  best  dealt  with  by  giving  the  first  eggs  to 
other  hens  with  small  clutches  to  hatch,  and  leaving  the  hen  that  lays  them  to 
sit  and  rear  the  last  portion  of  her  clutch.  If  any  other  "unattached"  eggs  are 
available  at  the  proper  time,  she  may  be  given  enough  to  make  up  a  full  normal 
clutch,  but  it  is  not  a  wise  policy  to  entrust  any  but  common  eggs  with  these 
hens  until  their  capabilities  of  hatching  and  rearing  young  have  been  proven. 
REMOVING  EGGS  AS  LAID. 
It  is  good  policy  to  remove  the  eggs  as  laid  and  to  return  them  on  the 
evening  of  the  third  day.  This  enables  them  to  hatch  out  within  a  few  hours 
of  each  other,  and  it  also  gives  all  the  young  an  equal  start  in  life.  Most  hens 
commence  to  incubate  from  the  first  egg,  and  if  the  eggs  are  not  removed  as 
suggested,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  youngest  of  a  brood  to  be  two  clear 
