30 



lEMtorial. 



WINTERING FOREIGN BIRDS OUT-OF-DOORS 



My birds have all flourished in spite of biting Kast 

 winds, frosts, fogs, &c., all of which go to make 

 up a London winter. I may say my avairy is 

 simply a piece of my garden netted in, having a floor 

 area of about 300 square feet, 40 of which is roofed in 

 to form an open-fronted lean-to shed, the remainder 

 is open both at the top and front. Its aspect is South. 

 It contains about 70 birds consisting of species from 

 almost every clime, and my only loss since September 

 has been a cock Harlequin Quail who died by violence. 

 The Grassfinches, which include Gouldians, Long- 

 tails and Rufoustails, are looking particularly well, and 

 most species, including Avadavats and Waxbills, 

 have lived under the above conditions varying from 

 four to eight years, six years being the average period. 

 The foregoing results are not based upon isolated 

 instances, data from isolated specimens not being 

 included in above records. 



HOW BIRDS BATHE : These few remarks are 

 not intended to be in anj^ sense complete, but are 

 quoted at random in the hope that they will call forth 

 others from our members. I may say my bath is a 

 large-sized glazed sink, sunk to ground level, with 

 stones placed in same to provide suitable depths for 

 all the birds inhabiting my aviary. The Liothrix are 

 very eager for their bath, they plunge in at one end 

 and run through to the other, and under water if 

 there is sufiicient depth, repeating this operation 

 till they are saturated. Most species of the Thrush 

 tribe and Cardinals simply get into the deepest part 



