All Rights Reserved. September, 1919. 



BIRD NOTES: 



THE 



JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB. 



Reminiscences. 



By Dr. Lovell-Keays, F.Z.S., etc. 



(Coniinued from page 182). 



PTavinq; said qood-bye to my first aviary, which, by the 

 way. only cost £10. approximately, for everything — including a 

 carpenter-built shelter. T will now turn to my first finch aviary. 

 In fig. T is shown the flight as first designed, and certainly its 

 appearance was sutiticiently pleasing to satisfy the most captious. 

 The shelter is not shown, but was originally a cowhouse, with 

 concrete floor — very lofty and. of course, spacious. It was at 

 the extreme end of a block of g-inch brick buildings, running 

 East to West — the door faced South and was apparently 

 specially constructed for an aviary as it had a large fan light 

 over it. The walls of the shelter were Q-inch work to a height 

 of 8 feet, and tlien 4^/2 inch work, and where the two met it 

 formed a ledge on which the birds rested, and on which I could 

 place nesting receptacles. In the middle of the outer or East- 

 ern wall a double window was let in. and this was greatly 

 appreciated by the birds, especially in the winter, as they were 

 able to enjoy the early morning sun, besides affording the extra 

 light. A single row of greenhouse pipes was provided, but 

 only used in very severe weather. The walls were thickly 

 covered with pea-boughs. Altogether it formed in every way 

 an ideal shelter. One more point, and that is the entrance was 

 in the extreme top right-hand corner of the flight, and this very 

 greatly facilitated driving the birds in at night during the winter 

 months. Once in. the door was pulled to, and so the birds were 

 shut in safely. To my mind this was the best shelter I ever had, 

 and was worthy of a better flight. But snug and apparently 

 attractive as this shelter was the birds would never use it unless 



