252 



OUTDOOR versus INDOOR AVIARIEvS. 



Sir, — I have this -winter tried a little experiment with the 

 Double-banded or Bicheno's Finch, which I think constitutes 

 a useful piece of evidence in reference to the above question. 



Last autumn, having ten examples of this species in my 

 outdoor aviary, I caught five of them and removed them in- 

 doors. The other five were left in the outdoor aviary, of which 

 a description appeared in Vol. II. pp. 225-7. The bird-room in 

 which those brou^^ht indoors were placed, is a very sunn}' warm 

 room facing full vSouth. The temperature has never fallen to 

 45 deg. this wMuter, although artificial heat has only been used 

 on a few of the coldest days during severe frost. The window 

 is always slightly open, night and day. 



Of the five in the bird room, one died of pneumonia in 

 January. Of those outdoors one died of egg-binding in 

 Februar}'. One verj' cold morning in Febrnar}' I found another 

 in the outdoor aviary apparently ill and scarceh'able to fly — 

 but it completely recovered after a few hours in a warm room— 

 this one has not been put out again. All the rest have been 

 perfectly well all the winter. 



It would seem, therefore, that this delicate Australian 

 species has as good a chance of surviving the winter in an out- 

 door aviary as when kept indoors. 



Horatio R. Fiij.mkr. 



