yo A CaHtOriiiaii A^'iary and its Inmaics. 



iiiul()iil)te(lly l)c to kee]) 'lie two l<in(ls se])arate. 1 I'lnd, for one 

 tiling;', that many of tlie seedeaters are too fond of tlie inseetile 

 mixture, and this iiuhd.^ed in to excess, as it \'cry often is, makes 

 tlieni too fat and does not tend to ])rolon:4 life. 



'i'lie aviaries are huilt side l)y side, and consist of shelter- 

 slied. covered tli,L;ht, and flight. 'I'hey are separated by a .solid 

 wood partition as re.ijards the. shelter-shed and l)y a three- 

 (|uarter wood and one (piarter hrdf-inch mesh dia.^'onal wire 

 ])artition in the covered and open fli.^hts. The extreme leni^th 

 is 40 feet; shelter-shed feet, covered flight () feet, and the 

 remainder open f]i,i;ht. The width of each is 12 feet, and the 

 height 10 feet. The whole structure is of wood and \vire- 

 netting. . The wood used was Californian red wood for the 

 U]>rights and ( )regon pine for the rest. fn the small bird 

 aviary we used half-inch mesh chagonal wire throughout, and 

 in the other i inch. The shelters have a sloping roof, with a 

 two-feet drop from front to rear, and are each provided with a 

 casement window. 2 feet by 10 inches, in the side, which is 

 wired, and can be opened and hooked back when desired. The 

 aviaries face south, and even in the warmest summer weather 

 the sheds are sulficiently cool to be much appreciated by the 

 l)irds. The whole outside and the flights are painted green, 

 and the inside of the sheds and the woodwork of the partition 

 cream-colour. The top of the flights is Hat. not because 1 

 thought that best, but becattse I had to be as economical as 

 possible in construction. 



For water supjdy each aviary is provided with a small 

 concrete fountain, ha^•ing a basin for bathing ])urposes of about 

 2 feet diameter, sloping in dejith from nothing to two inches. 



Tn the flights 1 have planted here and there groups of 

 privet, laurestinus. euonymus. budleia. and a few small pines 

 A two-foot-wide walk, two inches deep in grit, runs right 

 through the flights to the shelter-shed, and on the rest of the 

 grotmd space I ha\e sown alfalfa, Sudan grass, nasturtium, 

 millet, dandedion. etc. In addition there are two large climii)s 

 of pampas grass in the small bird aviary. I should also men- 

 tion that the entrance doors to both aviaries are at the opposite 



