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mortem which unfortunately became necessary in the 

 case of one of the three with black feathers, which 

 flew against the rafters of the aviary, and died of con- 

 cussion of the brain. I sent it to Mr. Gill, whose 

 report pronouncing it to be a cock appeared in the 

 September number of the Avicnltural Magazine. 



All the deficiencies of an aviary are not dis- 

 covered until every kind of bird for which it was 

 intended has been kept in it. The rafters of the 

 outer flight of this aviary are 3 in. by 2 in., and under 

 the wire netting which they support. The young 

 flew as near the wire roof as they could, and in so 

 doing knocked their heads against the rafters with 

 the above-mentioned disastrous result. After losing 

 this bird I nailed strips of old lace curtains to hang 

 from the rafters, to prevent the other birds from 

 flying too near and suffering a similar fate. This had 

 the desired effect, but when my young birds had 

 learnt their lesson, they tore the lace down and used 

 it as a swing, turn and turn about. 



I soon discovered that they had a great partiality 

 for monkey-nuts, so I trained them gradually to take 

 them from my fingers, first through the wire netting 

 and then from my hand inside the aviary. Now they 

 fly to me whenever I enter their compartment, and 

 alight on my shoulders, head, and hands, and if my 

 hand is closed nose into it for nuts. They are 

 especially fond of playing with my shoe-laces, and 

 run after my feet like kittens. 



At the time of writing (November), the birds 

 which had no black in their plumage are beginning 

 to show on their backs a few black feathers edged with 

 crimson, and their breasts are gradually becoming 

 crimson all over. The other birds which had black 

 feathers with a green edging on their backs are 

 changing the green for a crimson edging. 



