262 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
choose, an ivory nest-egg-, although this 
is not at all essential. As soon as the 
third egg is laid you may restore the 
others, and the hen will then sit. As a 
rule, the male will be very kind to ijer, 
bul instances occur sometimes of males 
being very troublesome to their mates 
during silling time ; he must in a case of 
this kind be ke[)t by himself in the other 
conu)artment of the breeding-cage. 
The eggs take thirteen days to hatch 
from the lime the hen has been set; but 
wlien the nestlings do come out both 
parents are prouder far than princes, and 
the male will take at once to assist the 
hen in rearing their darlings. 
You must continue the same food for 
weeks, until, indeed, the young birds are 
able to feed themselves with the ordinary 
bird seed. 
It will be as well to keep your breeding- 
cage in 3^our own room. Always ap- 
proach the cage gently, and never make 
startling movem^ents or noises, especially 
when the hen is sitting. As I have 
alr^idy said, in order to get good results 
your birds must be each of them in good 
health at the time of pairing. How are 
you to know tliis ? By their actions. A 
healthy bird is a happy bird— happy, and 
jolly, and frisky, v/itli a "ten-horse power 
appetite." See well to the behavior of 
Mr. Canary after the yoiuig are hatched, 
for there are such anomalies as cannibal 
canaries. 
See, too, that the hen does not sit too 
closely on the birds, or she may sweat 
and kill them. If she does this, probably 
the best plan will be to remove the male, 
so that she will be compelled to leave the 
nest to feed herself. Some recomniend 
giving the hen a bath ; others place bits 
of stick about the thickness of stocking- 
wires inside and across the nest, but not 
touching the birds; while others, again, 
think there is no cure for " sweating," as 
it is termed. My own humble o'pinion is 
that the hen herself in such cases cannot 
be in the best of health, and a rusty nail 
l^laced in the water by way of tonic, or a 
few drops of the tincture of steel, caijnot 
do harm and may do good. 
Wean your young birds gradually from 
the egg-food. I had almost forgotten to 
I say that the breeding-cage ought to con- 
tain a good sprinkling of sea-sand at the 
bottom of it, and some breeders add mor- 
sels of old lime. 
If you have your breeding-cage in your 
own apartment you will be sure no one 
meddles with or frightens your pets, and 
you will be better able to see that they 
have always a good supi>ly of fresh wat,er. 
Do not phice the cage in a draught, nor 
in the sun, but in an elevated warm 
corner; keep it very clean, and also keep 
the apartment well ventilated. If the 
sun shines in at the window, it will do 
good t o x^lace the cage for a short time 
daily in its rays, but do not forget and 
leave it there. 
Talking of cleanliness, the bird's 
perches ought to be always free from 
dirt; so should the feet of your canaries, 
and the claws must not be suffered to 
grow long enough to endanger the safety 
of the eggs. 
There are many, many things connected 
with breeding that I need not tell you 
here, but which experience will teach 
you; and whatsoever experience teaches 
one he is far less likely to forget. 
Sometimes a hen canary has a difficulty 
in depositing her egg; she becomes what 
is called in common pjarlance " egg- 
bound." This arises from a want of tone 
in the bird, or power of expulsion. To 
more immediately assist her, she ought, 
after sitting some time, to have the after- 
part of the body held over steam — not too 
hot, remembei', else you may destroy her. 
Or the parts njay be oiled with a feather 
and the steanirbath afterw&rds tried. 
I have advised you to })rocure strong, 
healthy parents of the variety you have a 
fancy for, and of the best prize strain; 
you will thus have a chance of breeding 
something really good and worthy of 
exhibition. But I Warn you not to be 
over-sanguine. It is difficult to breed 
anything of rare excellence. Anyhow, 
yon can do your very best, and live in 
hope. 
The breeding season commences, say, 
in the middle of March. Well, it must 
not last over five montljs. Make this a 
rule, and stick to it. 
Be very careful with your feeding, and 
