FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



and the same is true of those bred in large garden 

 aviaries. Cages made wholly of metal or wicker are 

 suitable enough if kept in "a warm place out of all 

 draughts, or hanging on a south wall out of doors ; but, 

 otherwise, a cage having bars only in front is safer. 

 The trays of all cages ought to be made of metal ; these 

 are clea'ner, less likely to hai-bour insects, and do not 

 set so easily jammed as wooden trays. 

 ' If it is desired to breed birds in cages, the latter 

 must be considerably larger than otherwise ; moreover, 

 whereas many pairs may be permitted to nest in a large 

 aviary, a single pair only should be enclosed in each 

 breeding-cage. The smallest cages suitable for breed- 

 ing foreign biixls sliould be of the following measure- 

 ments : For small Parrakeets, Weavers, and the larger 

 Finches the cage should be 31t. to 4ft. long, 2ft. to 

 3ft. high, 5ft. to 6ft. deep; for Cardinals, 5ft. to 

 6ft. long, 3ft. to 5ft. high, 8ft. to 9ft. deep; for 

 Waxbills, Mannikins, and other small ornamental 

 Finches, lift, long, lilt, high, 1ft. deep. Large 

 Parrots, Cockatoos, and Parrakeets, and all kinds of 

 softrbilled birds should be bred in spacious aviaries. 

 Xest-boxes .suitable to the wants of the birds, and 

 partly concealed by brushwood, shonld be fixed near 

 the roof on the back wall of all breeding cages. 



After trying many forms of nesting receptacles, I 

 have found that nearly all the smaller Finches are best 

 pleased with a box, in form like a full-sized cigar-box, 

 but larger. This box is hung up with its long axis 

 vertical, and with the upper third of the anterior face 

 left open. The greater part of tlie box should be filled 

 up with hay and moss, and other materials supplied to 

 the birds in an open cage or net. The .same box, and 

 of the same size, is suitable for man}- other foreign 

 Finches and Bluebirds. Xext to the cigar-box type 

 comes the German Canary cage, deprived of its acces- 

 sories, supplied with a sound wooden floor, two hooks at 

 the back to suspend it by, and one or more bars 

 removed from the front. In this cage the Grey Sing- 

 ing Finch, Zebra Finclies, Diamond Finches, and 

 probably many others will build. Thirdly, I have 

 found a. little jjasteboard travelling cage, with metal 

 or wooden corners and a sliding door, very useful. 

 The sliding-door is opened about two inches, and fixed 

 there with tacks, and light enters the box through the 

 regular perforated air-holes. Some years since I ob- 

 served in one of Mr. Seth-Smith's aviaries one or two 

 old straw hats tacked against a wall with a hole cut near 

 the top of the oval of the crown ; in these my friend 

 was most successful in breeding Parrot-Finches, which 

 appeared to prefer them to all other receptacles in which 

 to build their nests. In 1905 I tried the same as homes 

 for Gouldiaji Finches, and found that they accepted 

 them with pleasure ; I was thus for the first time 

 successful in breeding these beautiful birds, which I had 

 many times previously failed with. I do not doubt 

 that most of the Grass.Finches, or, at any rate, all 

 those which prefer to ne.st in thick cover, would welcome 

 our cast-off head-gear as nm'.«ing-homes for their youn^'. 

 For the larger Parrots, small barrels placed high up on 

 a small platform seem to bo readily accepted, the 

 entrance being made at one end through a large hole ; 

 for the larger Parrakeets, use either log-nests or boxes 

 so constructed that platforms converge from the four 

 inside walls to near the centre, in which a handful 

 of sawdust is placed, the entrance being placed 

 near the top at one end (see " Hints on Cage-Birds," 

 p. 39) ; lastly, for the smaller Parrakeets and Lovebirds 

 cocoanut husks may be provided. 



The best sand with which to caver the floor of an 

 aviary or the tray of a cage is clean sea-sand, just as 



received from the shore; it is wholly composed of grit, 

 and the salt which it contains is decidedly beneficial to 

 birds ; shell-sand, on the other hand, is dangerous, as 

 the sharp fragments of shell when swallowed are liable 

 to set up inliammation, and have even been known to 

 cut through the gizzard, thus causing death. Crushed 

 old mortar or egg-shells may be scattered over the sand, 

 and cuttle-fish bone should always be given, otherwise 

 moulting will be retarded and nesting hens will produce 

 soft or shell-less eggs. 



Any of the better kinds of insectivorous loods con- 

 taining egg and ants' eggs will be found beneficial to 

 many of the Finches and will be used for feeding the 

 young by most of them, but many of the Grassfinehes 

 appear to bring up their families upon seed, green fly 

 (plant lice), or such small insects as they may be able 

 to capture ; the Mannikins, which are to all intents 

 and purpo.ses dull-coloured Grassfinehes, have been 

 known to use gentles for rearing their young, of course, 

 ill addition to partly-digested seed. Fruit is necessary 

 for most Parrots, as well as the majority of soft-food 

 eaters. A mealworm or caterpillar, once or twice every 

 day, should be given to all .«oft-billed birds — to Car- 

 dinals, Weavers, Buntings, and the few Waxbills which 

 will eat them ; also insects of various kinds, w-lien pro- 

 curable, and spiders ; and for Warblers, Thrushes, and 

 Starlings, small earth-worms mixed with garden mould 

 in a saucer. Lastly, during the breeding season some 

 form of egg-bread, sweet biscuit, or Madeira cake will 

 be found useful. 



If possible, it is important that only birds in good 

 health should be purchased, and therefore it is best 

 to obtain them from a reliable importer. If you have 

 any doubt as to the perfect health of a bird, do not 

 turn it loose in any aviary until that doubt is set at 

 rest ; for enteritis, asthma, and many other di.'^eases to 

 which freshly imported or ill-conditioned birds are 

 liable are infectious, and if introduced into a com- 

 munity may cause serious losses. 



When, in .spite of all care and attention, a bird falls 

 ill there is seldom much chance of completely restoring 

 it to health, and therefore I shall not waste space in 

 repeating the innumerable remedies usually recom- 

 mended as almost infallible cures for every ache and 

 pain to which the feathered family is subject. At the 

 same time, asthma and egg-binding, when taken in 

 time, are usually easy to cure. For the former a few- 

 drops of glycerine stirred into the drinking-water every 

 day for a fortnight is the ^st remedy ; but be careful 

 not to overdo the dose, or the result, according to the 

 late Mr. Abrahams, is likely to prove fatal ; the dose 

 for Finches is eight drops to a wineglassful of water ; 

 for Thrushes or birds of that general size, ten drops ; 

 for the larger Parrots, which do not drink more than 

 once or twice a day, a t«aspoonful in the ordinary 

 parrot-tin ; gum arabic dissolved in the water is a very 

 6afi> remedy, but not .so effectual ; many bird-keepers 

 give both combined. For simple colds and sneezing fits 

 a little diluted glyco-thymoline used as a na^^al douche 

 is excellent. Before using these remedies it is always 

 well to give a mild purgative, five grains of Epsom salts 

 for one day in the drinking-water for Finches, an in- 

 creased dose or a little tasteless castor oil for the larger 

 birds; aft<>r the cure al.so it is best to strengthen the 

 patient by giving a little iron in some form or other. 

 For egg-binding apply a little sweet oil with a feather 

 to the vent, and pnt one drop into the beak, then hold 

 the bird over the steam from a jug of hot water for a 

 quarter of an hour, wrap it up in warm flannel, and 

 place it in a covered cage near tho fire. 



In only one instance out of many have I succeeded 

 in curing a bird of inflammation of the bowels bv 



