THE CANARY’S CAGE. 
■will breed birds who will not only be superior to either of 
their parents in plumage but likewise in song. It is by no 
means so easy to pair a cock canary with a hen goldfinch, and 
even when it is effected the result is not nearly as satisfactory. 
The handsomest mules are produced from a canary of a pure 
golden yellow, and a full-grown garden goldfinch. 
All birds that have an affinity to the canary may be paired 
with him. The list includes the linnet, redpole, siskin, serin, 
and citril. The mule of the grey canary and the linnet differs 
from its dam in appearance in no other way but that its tail is 
closer and longer, while its song can hardly be said to be an 
improvement on its papa’s. A canary mule, with a serin for 
its male parent, is still eveiy bit a canary to look at, only its 
beak is somewhat thicker and shorter. Mated with the redpole 
the canary produces a mule unhandsome in plumage and 
indifferent in song. 
Bechstein informs us that the bullfinch, the greenfinch, the 
chaffinch, the yellow bunting, and even the sparrow has been 
mated with the canary. With what success, however, he does 
not say, and I never had the opportunity of observing. As 
experiments, these attempts at cross breeding no doubt are very 
amusing and instructive, but I should by no means advise my 
readers to indulge in them. The chances are twenty to one 
against success, and “more plague than profit” will be the 
inevitable result. Indeed, it appears after all, that the only 
sort of mule-breeding to be safely and profitably indulged in is 
that in which the canary and goldfinch alone are concerned. 
The Canary’s Cage. — The shape of your bird’s house is 
quite a matter of taste. Its size is a matter of principle. The 
larger the dwelling, the less music you will 
in all probability get out of its occupant. 
He will think more of skipping and jump- 
ing about than singing,- — in short, he will 
pay more attention to his own amusement 
than to yours. But, on the other hand, 
who wants a bird to be singing from morn- 
ing till night ? You may depend that what 
you lose in quantity, you gain in quality ; 
and, in my opinion, it can’t be wrong to 
allow to caged birds the use of their limbs 
in return for the music of their throats. 
If we narrow a canary’s prison for the sake of extorting his 
music, it looks like taking the first step in the path which 
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