CAGE BIRDS. 5C5 
vsimple remedies prescribed and put up bydhese long skilled in attend- 
ance upon the bird room. Such remedies are a ways to be had in 
convenient form, with plain directions for their use, and any pet-stcck 
dealer of established reputation can be relied cn to supply them. It is 
a good general rule to remove a sick bird to a warmer place, sheltered 
from all currents of air, as soon as he is observed to be under the weather. 
Warmth, aided by a dose or two of the excellent tonics to be had in the 
bird stores, will work wonders in the first stages of nearly every ordi- 
nary malady to which canaries are subject. Neglected cases, of course, 
call for heroic remedies, but this is no part of the ordinary care of the 
household pet. It is sufficient for those who content themselves with 
one or two singers, to keep a bottle of standard tonic always at hand 
for use in case of emergency, relying chiefly on good, wholesome seed, 
pure water, and cleanliness to insure health and melody in the cages. 
Canaries are wonderfully hardy. If they were not, half of them 
■would speedily drop out of existence, for the average singer has more 
indigestible victuals to dispose of than even the victim of cheap board- 
ing-house rations. He is satisfied with a moderate-sized cage, which 
should be square-oblong in shape, as dizziness is often fomented by 
round cages. The perches should.be as thick as a schoolboy’s pen- 
holder, to spare the pet the torture of cramping his feet to clutch a small 
roost. It is a good plan to scrape the'perches with a dull knife, and 
scour them in dry sand, in place of washing them. Wet perches are 
apt to encourage colds and rheumatism. 
If a bird is tormented with insects he will betray the fact by his 
uneasiness. A piece of white cotton flannel thrown over. the cage at 
night, if examined in the morning, will be found full of little red 
mites. To destroy these miserable pests it is best to procure a package 
of the German powder prepared for the purpose, and follow the direc- 
tions which accompany it to the letter. 
Canaries will thrive in any temperature between forty and eighty 
degrees, provided it is kept regular and uniform and free from draughts. 
No singer should be hung in the noxious gases that rise to the ceiling 
of a sitting room when the lamps are lit, nor should he breathe eighty 
degrees of heat in the daytime and frost-laden air at night. The thin 
and almost imperceptible draught that sneaks in at a window case- 
ment is a fruitful cause of cold and death. It is downright cruelty 
to hang a bird so that he has no escape from it. 
In selecting a songster it is very poor economy to pull the purse- 
strings too tight. Choose a thoroughly recommended bird of what- 
ever breed is preferred, pay a fair living price to the dealer, and you 
will stand a far better chance of getting satisfaction than you would 
had you wasted your money on one of the cheaper birds so industriously 
hawked about the country by wandering fakirs. A good St. Andreas- 
berg canary, well cared for, will add fully as much comfort to a home 
as any article of equal cost that can be chosen to adorn it. 
The male bird is the songster. The female rarely sings, and 
