On Ornamental Aviaries. M3 



keep none of her chickens, on account of their being attacked 

 with the roup. On examining the yard, I found the poultry 

 were in the habit of drinking at a horse-pool, which received 

 the drainings of the pigsties and ox-stalls, and this appeared 

 sufficient to account for the prevalence of the disease. I 

 found my young brood of pheasants and partridges always 

 did well till they were shut up in my poultry-yard, or aviary ; 

 and as soon as that was the case they began to suffer from the 

 roup. 



But to return to the aviary — birds are either carnivorous, 

 granivorous, or insectivorous *. The first class are not fitted 

 for the aviary — the second always do well — the third re- 

 quire great care to keep them in health. I have found that 

 the best food for constant supply is buck wheat, hemp, rape 

 and canary seeds, and a mixture of barley meal and grated 

 liver. The latter is particularly necessary for the lark tribe and 

 the Sylvias, and also for the merulidae. Snails, slugs, and 

 worms, should be frequently supplied also ; and green food, 

 such as groundsel, chickweed, lettuce, and water- cresses ; also 

 the seed of plantain, dock, and thistles occasionally. The 

 seed should be provided in boxes, so constructed that a little 

 only should fall down at a time. There should be several 

 boxes, as the stronger birds are apt to tyrannise over the 

 weaker, and keep them from their food ; and each of the boxes 

 should have several divisions of wire, or wood. 



The enemies of the aviary are numerous : of these the cat is 

 the most formidable ; they will sit on the roof of the aviary for 

 hours in a moonlight night, alarm the little inmates, and then 

 pounce on them as they fly towards the light, and against the 

 wire. I have sometimes found three or four birds in a morning 

 killed by the cats, sometimes the head torn off, but often entire, 



* These may be subdivided into those which live almost entirely on the 

 wing, and whose food consists of those insects which they meet with 

 flying, or those which hve on the larvae or eggs of insects which they 

 meet with on the ground. The former are quite inappUcable for the 

 aviary ; for, independent of their being migratory, it would be impossible 

 to supply appropriate food — the food of the latter may be afforded or 

 imitated. 



