152 



ftbe Hviaries at IRingniore. 



By W. T. Page, F.Z.S. 



It has recently been my privilege, during a short stay in 

 S. Devon, to have an opportunity of studying the aviaries and 

 their inmates of our esteemed member Mr. W. E. Teschemaker. 

 Admirable and natural as they are a description of them without 

 the aid of a ground plan is a difficult matter; getting a photo- 

 graph was a practical impossibility, that is to give any idea of 

 their scope, fittings and extent. They entirely cover the area of 

 a small walled-in garden, and consist of two or three main 

 aviaries which are centrally situated and a number of smaller 

 ones ranged round them ; there are no passages between the 

 respective aviaries, but they open one into the other. The 

 fittings and arrangement, that is apart from the lack of passages 

 between the various aviaries, are all that could be desired, and 

 the nesting receptacles are many and various. Much ingenuity 

 has been expended upon them to secure the best, both for the 

 birds, and for ease of observation as opportunity offers. Speak- 

 ing generally, the first thing that struck me was the freshness 

 and amount of growing trees, shrubs and undergrowth that was 

 present in aviaries of some years standing. Mr. T. has managed 

 to, secure this by limiting the number of birds he keeps (for 

 instance he has only about twenty birds more than myself and 

 ten times the space!) and by personal observation, especially of 

 new arrivals, destructive birds being promptly removed to 

 quarters where the trees, etc. are of a nature that few birds 

 will touch or where their depredations can be periodically re- 

 newed. Again, successful as Mr. T. has been in breeding rare 

 species, I marvelled that these successes had not been much 

 greater, such is the amount of cover and space provided for the 

 birds; I think this fairly illustrates the difficulty there is in 

 inducing many species, not so much to get them to construct a 

 nest or lay eggs, but to rear the young to the point of their being 

 able to fend for themselves. 



The main aviaries have well-lighted shelters attached to 

 them, these shelters being provided with a service of hot water 

 pipes. One shelter which is kept for new arrivals and fragile 

 species never falls below 65 or 70 , and I understand serves its pur- 



