Visits to M outers' Az'iorics. 245 



Visits to Members' Aviaries. 



By Wesley T. Page. F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 

 {Continued from page 22p). 



Mr. Shork Baily's Aviaries and Birds: On my 



arrival at Boyers House I met my host and hostess; it was still 

 raining-, but after tea and avicultural gossip, we walked through 

 the aviaries in waterproofs — do I hear? " What mad fools those 

 aviculturists are " — well, we do not mind, gibe on, dear reader, 

 it you draw any satisfaction therefrom — we would not deny you 

 this pleasure for worlds! Then came dinner and a long talk 

 before retirement for the night. 



Aviculture here is upon a large scale — there are twenty 

 aviaries, not one of them small, and several are huge enclosures, 

 besides the pheasant runs, crane and pea-fowl paddot-ks. and 

 the waterfowl on the lake — one clear day was all too short to 

 take them in, and there was altogether too nuich to visualise 

 them for future use. effectually and mentally, even with the aid of 

 notes — as it is. I missed the pheasantries altogether except for 

 the Crossoptilons. Therefore, though my description must 

 necessarily be crude, it cannot be crow^ded within the compass 

 rf one instalment, nor justice be done either to the accommoda- 

 tion or the large series of birds, and. of course, in so short a 

 period I did not glimpse all of them — however, if my readers 

 are as interested in my notes as I was during the few hours I was 

 jotting them down amid the birds, this description will not have 

 been written in vain. 



The aviaries generally have a rough natural character, 

 plenty of herbage and bush cover, yet all have an open 

 appear-ance — there are, however, plenty of retreats and natural 

 cover for the birds. For the roof-standards willow, silver 

 poplar and elder poles (green-wood) were used; most of them 

 have grown, and, though cut back annually, they form thick 

 bushes, with plenty of stubby forked bi-anches for nesting sites — 

 tins intensifies the rouglr natural aspect of the aviaries, there 

 being only the wire netting above one's head and round the 

 sides to remind one the birds are enjoyingf only restrained 

 liberty, and some of the aviaries are so huge that even this 

 nnpression is lost. The accompanying ground plan and photos 

 of the weaver aviary will enforce what I have written, and the 



