13 



cage. Give them hay, straw, bass, string, hair, or 

 other similar substance, and they will set to work far 

 more enei-getically than the average workman. Some 

 Weavers — the Red-billed particularly — seem to have a 

 perfect passion for building, and one bird will at times 

 have several nests going at once. I gladly encouraged 

 my birds to build, for it gave them an interest in life 

 and something to occupy their minds. And to see a 

 small bird twisting and bending a piece of hay first 

 this way and then that, anon stopping and peering at 

 some particular piece that required special thought, 

 with the funniest I-wonder-how-I-can-do-that expres- 

 sion, was at times sufficient to bring a smile to the 

 most pessimistic of mortals. 



{To be continued.) 



ICbe Mintcr 1bou6ino of ICanaQcrs in 

 an Hviarv. 



By Ci^audine Anningson-. 

 Up to the month of Ma\^ of 1905 I had always kept 

 my soft-billed birds in a large wire cage, but one day 

 I went into my big birdroom, where I kept my big 

 birds, and as I entered, the sun was shining brightly 

 on the cage that contained several species of Tanager 

 — the Scarlet, Superb, Blue and Olive. I stood gazing 

 for some little time, thinking how lovely they looked, 

 and the shimmer of all their beautiful colours induced 

 me to say to myself, " If onlyl dared trust them in my 

 big aviary, what a grand sight it would be to see 

 them flying with my other birds." Well, the pretty 

 picture I imagined made me take a bold step. I called 

 to my old servant — the woman who always helps me 



