The hen generally lays four or five eggs, and sits thirteen or fourteen days, unless she or her mate have a bad habit of eating the eggs. They should be left in the nest, and not touched or interfered with at all, until a fortnight has elapsed after the laying of the last egg; then, if there are no signs of hatching, the eggs may be put into warm water: if they float the probability is that they are addled, and no young bird in the egg; if they sink, they may be replaced for a day or two, but if not hatched then, they should be taken away, or the hen will go on sitting uselessly (on dead birds probably). Sometimes a violent jar, caused by the shutting of a door near the cage, or the fall of the cage itself, will kill the birds in the egg, or the mother bird will cause their death by allowing the eggs to get cold, if sitting irregularly. The egg food must be provided in readiness for the hatching; and it is necessary to watch the birds' proceedings at first, lest they should not feed the young ones; but very few canaries are unnatural enough to leave them unfed, although they do not like to be overlooked, and, if they are shy birds, will refuse to feed their little ones when they arc in sight, so that one has to watch them without appearing to do so.

If they feed them once they will continue to do so; if not, it will be needful to bring them up by hand, giving them the soft egg food with a quill, as with the nestlings before mentioned. Afresh nest must be given if the first nest becomes dirty, and the young birds carefully transferred to it with no more touching than is necessary. Some parent birds will resent any interference with their young, and will desert if they are meddled with; others will appear pleased at any notice bestowed on them, and will call our attention to their children with great exultation, chirping and flying up to the nest, looking in, and then looking up in our faces as if to say, " Pray admire my lovely infants".

If our birds are as familiar with us as they ought to be, they will exhibit their confidence in our sympathy and make their wants known to us in a very pleasant and expressive manner: if they want fresh food or water they will go down to the glasses and look into them, and then look up at us and chirp; or if anything is amiss with their nestlings, they will attract our attention to the nest by signals that cannot be mistaken. One bird who wanted materials for her nest went about the cage picking up stalks, and another pulled the hair of any human head that came within her reach, to show what she wanted.

The young birds will generally be out of the nest in about a fortnight during the day, returning to it at night for warmth. The mother bird will often begin to lay again about this time, and must have a fresh nest given her; and the young ones should be put into the nursery partition, so as to be fed through the wires (or in a small cage tied on to the larger one). They are apt to tease their mother, or to break the eggs, by jumping in and out of the nest while she is sitting. I have sometimes seen three or four little heads peeping out under her wings at once, and occasionally they will sit upon her, which in hot weather is almost too much to endure. The cock bird will feed them while she is sitting, and show them how to feed themselves. They must have a supply of egg food, crushed seed, and water in their compartment, and by degrees they will become independent of their parents. The first moulting tries the young bird's strength much, and till it is over they must have the same food (egg food and crushed hemp-seed) in addition to their usual provisions.

The hen should not be allowed to have more than two broods in the year, for her health's sake: if she goes on laying or sitting, the nest should be taken away from her; and if that hint is not sufficient, she must be separated from the cock till she begins to moult. The young birds should be within hearing of a good songster till after their moulting is over, when they will begin to warble feebly. If a nightingale or woodlark were to be had as music master, they would learn his notes; but I do not advise any one to keep these birds in confinement; they are not fitted for it by temperament or constitution, and their song is much more glad and sweet in their native woods. I had one canary who had learned several nightingale notes, and used to repeat the "jug, jug" continually: he would not sing in company with others, but taught the young birds very well from a little distance. They will often learn best when their singing master is out of sight.

Cross-breeding has changed the canary of the present day greatly from the original wild green bird of TenerifTe and the Canary Isles, and the varieties of shape and plumage are endless. There are canary societies and bird-shows now, and prizes are given for birds which excel in beauty or song. They are arranged in different divisions, and connoisseurs talk knowingly of "jonques," "spangles," "mealy birds;" "flaxen," "grey," "cinnamon," and "agate-coloured" canaries; all which have their distinguishing merits. Then there is the German canary, a small, compact, smooth bird, with a sweet but not very powerful voice; and the Belgian, its opposite in every respect, very long and slender, with exceedingly high shoulders and long legs, standing so uprightly on its perch as to give one the idea that it would fall backwards. The Norwich, or London fancy prize canary, is a large square bird, with a massive head, deep orange in plumage all over the body, excepting the wings and tail, which should be black. This at least used to be the prize bird, but every season has its fashion in birds as well as in dress.

To my mind it is the most beautiful of all the canaries when perfect, but it is very difficult to get one without white or green feathers, or irregularly marked; and a perfect bird will become imperfect after its first two moults. This is the case also with the lizard canary, which should be of a greenish bronze throughout, excepting the crown of the head, which is yellow in the gold-spangled, and white in the silver-spangled lizard. The markings or spangles on the back are very uniform and regular, and there ought to be no yellow or white feathers in the wings or tail: but these generally come when the bird is two years old.