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An outdoor aviary in the reign of Louis XVI.


distant views could be seen through vistas cut in the surrounding

trees. . . . Birds were the particular passion of the duke, and


he loved them so much that he could not bear to shut them up in

cages, so he hit upon an original device for keeping them near him.

Close to the chateau was a little wood through which a stream

wandered, and over the whole of this the duke had almost invisible

wire netting stretched, covering the tree-tops and so transforming

the wood into an immense aviary. Clumps of flowers were then

planted amongst the undergrowth, the duke’s writing-table and book¬

case were arranged at the foot of a tree in the middle, and lastly,

quantities of birds were turned loose inside the netting. Here the

dear old man sat peacefully at work every morning, composing verses

01 translating Latin poets, whilst the stream murmured at his side,

and countless happy warblers flew around his head and perched in

the branches above him.”


One wonders whether the Chevalier de Boufflers brought the

old Due de Nivernais any birds from Senegal, of which at one period

he was governor, for we read that on his first return to France (1786)

he arrived “with the oddest presents for all his friends. There

was a Parrakeet for the Queen (Marie Antoinette) which talked

Senegalese and French with equal fluency, and had been carefully

instructed in suitable greetings for its royal owner: ‘ Ou est la

reine ? Je veux la voir. La voila ! ’ < Ah ! qu’ elle est belle ! Je


veux la voir toujours, toujours.” Several birds died on the voyage.


The Chevalier de Boufflers in his journal told Madame de

Sabran: “ I have lost a green parrot with a red head that I had

meant for Elz6ar (her son), a spoonbill for the Bishop of Laon, five

or six parrakeets ; and finally, last night I was present at the death of

a poor yellow parrot, the first that had ever been seen in Africa,

and as he was unique amongst his kind, I thought of giving him to

one who is unique amongst her kind, and who is to the human race

what the human race (meaning Madame de Sabran herself) is to

parrots.” This yellow parrot must have been a Lutino.


Mis. Webster writes of these offerings as “the oddest

presents ”; but aviculturists would rather call them “ interesting

and welcome gifts.”



