330



Mr. Archibald Simpson,



by iSi 11. by £in. let into a frame and fixed in their stead, this

lighted the interior splendidly, and after the walls had been

whitewashed I regarded it as being almost perfection, but so as

to afford additional shelter I built up to it a wooden house “ B,”

constructed of fin. tongued and grooved matchboarding, cover¬

ing the roof wiili prepared felt; the total dimensions of the

structure, including the stone-built place, are 36ft. long, 15ft.

wide, with an average height of 7ft. “ C ” is the open flight, 21ft.

long. The height is 7 ft. 6 in. at the back, with a fall of one

foot to the front. I raised the ground level inside to the top

of the skirting board, which is seven inches wide, with fine

gravel, except a strip about five feet wide on two sides which

was turfed, but 011 which a blade of grass is now rarely seen.

The outside flight is of course covered with fine mesh galvanised

netting (half-inch) blacked with Wailes, Dove & Co.’s bitumastic

solution (which I find spreads much better than Brunswick Black

and is innocuous and much cheaper). The wooden framework

was painted green, and when the whole was completed and ready

for occupation I felt quite satisfied I was now in a position to

compete with my fellow members who write the nice long

accounts of breeding successes, and annex the Society’s medals

as a consequence.


In addition to my usual stock, I received from a Jamaica

friend one pair each of White Crowned Pigeons, White Bellied

and White Wing Doves, and subsequently purchased a pair of

Pennant Parrakeets and also introduced a trio of Gold Pheasants,

finally dispelling all doubts on the part of my family connections

as to my sanity by erecting two more aviaries, on the ground that

I had not yet sufficient room.


The last mentioned were constructed on the open-shed

principle, that is to say, the covered-in portion was not wholly

boarded but only on thiee sides and for a span of about three

feet from the top on the fourth, fronting to the wired-in portion.

They each measure 16 ft. by 8 ft., really being a 16 ft. square

aviary divided by half-inch mesh netting down the centre with a

door from one into the other, the outside portion of each being

10 ft. 6 in. long and 7 ft. 6 in. high, the covered portion being

10 feet high in front sloping to 8 feet. They face south, but are



