IU8 How I Started Aviculture. 



In tlic far or South end I have fixed a lon.e perch al>out 

 15 inches from the top, and pi'ojecting about 10 mches out. 

 The birds simply delight in this and I consider thks one of 

 the features of my aviary. The netting used wa'^ ^ inch mesh 

 and I got Messrs. Boulton and Paul to weave one CO yards 

 by 8 feet in width. I thus obviated all Joins in th? si;les, as 

 my gardener simply wrapped the netting round the posts, be- 

 ginning at one door-post and ending at the other. But 8-foel 

 netting is not easy to handle for the roof, and ] do not recom- 

 mend it for that. The local carpenter made me a shelter 

 8ft. X 4ft. X 8ft. high at the ridge; walls felted inside and roof 

 outside. The cost of which was 30s. I fitted the entire 

 shelters with coco -nut husks and nesting barrels, but the 

 smaller Parrakeets seem to much prefer the husks. I now 

 had a roomy aviary, and to see such magnificent creatures as 

 Parrakeets, Rosellas, and Barnard's flying from end to end 

 is a never-to-be-forgotten sight. The Broad-tails must have 

 room, or they cannot possil>ly thrive, and one loses half tlieir 

 charm if they only have room to flit from branch to branch. 

 As I have said, the to::al cost of a really excellent aviary was 

 well under £10, so the question of cost need deter no one from 

 becoming an enthusiast for Parrakeets. My next task was to 

 stock this somewhat vacant looking space, for with an absence 

 of "cover" the aviary looks very large. Our Editor helped 

 me, and we quickly olitained the favourite Budgerigar — two 

 pairs of green and one yellow, and a pair of All Green Parra- 

 keets (Brotogerps tirica). I quickly began to feel my feet 

 and very soon I had Rosellas, To vis, and Moustache Parra- 

 keets, and, that most charming of all Parrakeets the modest 

 gentle little Cockatiel. 



I was started in aviculture. Soon my doubts and 

 uncertainties commenced. I believed my two Rose" las were 

 cocks. I was not sure of my All Greens. I at once set to 

 and made up my mind I (would find out and in that way began 

 my s^wrfi/of Parrakeets, especially as regards sexing Iheni. The 

 result of my studies was that I was positive my Ro. ellas were 

 both cocks, and hearing one day of an odd Rosella, I motored 

 24 mile.^. to see it. It answered to my preconceived notion 

 of a hen Rosella. I brought it home and as soon as I intro- 

 duced it into the aviary the erstwhile friends l>egan to quarrel 



