227 



Dr. Simpson's photograph is as good an one as it is 

 possible to obtain. Some of the uprights look out of 

 plumb in the photograph— and no doubt they are not 

 perfectly true, for they were amateur work— but the 

 defect certainly seems exaggerated, and would, I 

 think, never be noticed when looking at the aviary, 

 though very apparent in the photograph. I consider 

 that the aviary is a very creditable piece of work for 

 one not trained as a carpenter. 



In this aviary I have kept, for the last six months, 

 some twenty small foreign seed-eaters— and they have 

 not injured the trees nor the grass. According to 

 some popular writers on aviculture, one square foot of 

 floor space should be allowed to each bird — at which 

 rate my aviary would accommodate ninety-seven. I 

 am convinced that it is a great mistake to put so 

 many birds into a small aviary, and the result must 

 be the destruction of all trees and turf, to say nothing 

 of more serious evils. 



My success in breeding in the aviary has so far 

 been small, the season's results being only two broods 

 of Bicheno's Finches, the first consisting of four 

 nestlings and the second of one only. The Long- 

 tailed Grassfinches built a beautiful spherical nest, in 

 which they slept each night for several weeks, until 

 the continuous rains in August washed it to pieces — 

 but no eggs were ever laid. A hen Silverbill laid and 

 sat, but died in the nest during the terrible cold 

 spell in June. A solitary hen Aurora Finch has sat 

 industriously but fruitlessly on one or two batches of 

 eggs— whether her own unfertile production or the 

 neglected laying of other birds I do not know. 



The above was written early in November — since 

 then I have brought most of the birds indoors, but a 

 few are still out, and appear none the worse for the 

 cold. 



