Our  Canaries 
or  box  and  dusted  with  insect  powder ;  and  just  as  the  birds  are  going  to 
roost,  take  out  the  soiled  nest,  transfer  the  young  to  the  clean  one  and  replace  in 
the  cage.  The  disturbance  is  then  practically  nil.  In  making  the  new  nest  at 
this  age  remember  that  the  birds  have  grown  considerably  larger,  and  if  there  is  a 
full  brood,  a  rather  larger  cup  should  be  formed  in  the  nest  than  was  required  for 
the  hen  when  laying  and  sitting. 
FROM   NEST   TO  NURSERY. 
The  age  when  the  young  leave  the  nest  will  be  found  to  vary  from  the 
twentieth  to  the  thirtieth  day  after  hatching.  These  periods  may  be  taken  as  the 
two  extremes.  The  great  majority  of  young  birds  will  get  on  the  perches  between 
the  twenty-fourth  and  the  twenty-sixth  days.  The  actual  time  depends  very 
much  upon  the  feeding  qualities  of  the  parents  and  the  number  of  the  brood. 
Never  try  to  hasten  on  this  event.  On  the  contrary,  as  long  as  the  parents 
are  doing  their  duty  well  and  do  not  pluck  the  young,  make  every  effort  in  the 
way  of  quietude  and  avoidance  of  anything  likely  to  startle  the  young,  and  try 
to  keep  them  in  the  nest  as  long  as  possible.  During  the  last  week  or  so  in  the 
nest  they  will  often  climb  on  to  the  edge  of  the  nest  for  a  short  time,  and  a  trivial 
thing— a  sharp  noise,  a  sudden  move,  or  any  unusual  appearance — may  send 
them  scurrying  into  the  cage  bottom  ;  and  after  such  an  event  it  is  no  easy  matter 
to  get  them  to  remain  quietly  in  the  nest  again. 
RETURNING  THE  COCK  AFTER  REMOVAL. 
At  this  stage  the  hen  will,  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  be  about  turning  her 
attention  to  nesting  again,  and  in  those  cases  where  the  cock  was  removed  at  the 
commencement  of  incubation  he  may  now  be  safely  returned.  In  most  cases 
after  duly  paying  court  to  the  hen  he  will  settle  down  quietly  and  take  over  the 
major  portion  of  the  task  of  feeding  the  young.  After  that  all  will  go  well  if  the 
hen  refrains  from  plucking  when  about  commencing  to  build  another  nest.  This 
event  may  be  postponed  until  the  young  are  on  the  perches,  but  if  it  is  not,  they 
will  at  this  stage  still  be  old  enough  to  place  in  a  nursery  cage  where  the  cock, 
and  probably  also  the  hen,  will  continue  to  feed  them  as  long  as  is  necessary. 
But  if  plucking  has  commenced,  one  must  be  careful  to  arrange  the  perches  in 
the  nursery  so  that  the  young  when  resting  upon  them,  or  when  being  fed,  are  not 
easily  accessible  to  the  old  birds,  save,  of  course,  the  beaks  only  when  the 
youngsters  gape  for  food.  In  the  case  of  a  very  bad  plucker  who  has  for  some 
reason  or  other  to  be  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  young  at  this  stage,  the  end 
of  the  nursery  cage  adjoining  the  wires  of  the  breeding  cage  may  be  partly  covered 
by  having  a  strip  of  cardboard  tacked  on  the  upper  part,  leaving  only  about  three 
inches  of  open  wire  across  the  end  at  such  a  height  as  to  bring  the  beaks  and 
heads  of  the  young  well  in  view  when  they  rise  for  food.  A  supply  of  egg 
food  and  crushed  seeds  should  be  kept  in  the  nursery  for  the  young  to  peck 
