97 



batten carry match boarding nailed across tbem, the 

 topmost one being flush with the ends of the boards 

 and the bottom one being five or six inches from the 

 other extremities. This provides for a good and 

 efficient overhanging eaves. To make it watertight 

 most people would consider the old-fashioned tar 

 felting sufficient, but the neatest and most durable 

 covering consists of sailcloth, or even ordinary- 

 Hessian cloth, stretched over it and tacked down to 

 the outside edges of the boards, not forgetting to allow 

 about an inch to hang free at the front and ends, so as 

 to prevent the wet from running back under it. Then 

 if this has a good coat of gas tar in which a little 

 pitch has been melted, it will be found to last for 

 years, that is if a fresh coat of tar is put on every year 

 or two. As an alternative to this the lately intro- 

 duced flexible tar felting, which is said not to require 

 tarring, may be used. I have used both, and prefer the 

 sailcloth. 



If the walls of the aviary be now placed in posi- 

 tion on the levelled and hardened piece of ground and 

 screwed together, the roof can then be lifted up into 

 its place. Provided that the measurements have been 

 correct, the top horizontal rail will be in close contact 

 with the wall, and the bottom one will be resting on 

 the top edge of the front of the pen. A few small 

 iron plates, or, better still, butt hinges, will make the 

 joint between the roof and the front all secure, while 

 half-a-dozen three inch holdfasts, previously driven 

 into the wall for the top rail of the roof to rest on, 

 will give perfect security, both vertical and lateral, 

 when some screws have been put hard up through 

 the holdfasts into the rail. 



Last of all, to prevent mice and rats from burrow- 

 ing, slates must be sunk into the ground all round 

 the aviary close up to and touching the floor board 

 (bottom rail), allowing only about three inches of their 

 width to be in sight. In addition to fulfilling the 



