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MY AVIARY.


By The Hon. Mrs. Carpenter.


I find the accounts in the Magazine of other people’s

aviaries of such absorbing interest that perhaps even my humble

efforts in this line may be interesting to other beginners. My

first aviary was built three years ago, in April, 1897, against the

glass west end of a conservatory, which thus protects it from the

east and slightly warms that side of it. It is a cube of 7ft. to the

eave of the roof which is a gabled one, sloping north and south.

The lower half of the south side of the roof is of glass to let in

more sun ; the upper half and whole north side of roof of boards

covered with tarred felt.


The front of the aviary to the south is the only open side,

covered with smallest mesh wire netting; about 2ft. of the west

side of glass, the rest of this side and the whole of the back of

boards covered with tarred felt. The floor is of cement on a

brick foundation, and raised about 8 inches off" the ground.


In the winter a woollen blind is drawn down over the wire

front of the aviary at night.


In this aviary I have kept for the last three years,

with varying success, Parson Finches, Diamond Sparrows,

Silverbills, Avadavats, Green Avadavats, Bronzewing Mannikins,

Zebra Finches, Zebra Waxbills, a White - throated Finch,

Combassous, Bullfinches, Goldfinches, Nonpareils, lien- Green¬

finches, and hen Canaries. Too many for breeding to be very

successful, but I have bred a lot of Zebra Finches and twice

Bronze-winged Mannikins, though of these last the only one that

lived to come out of the nest was then abandoned by its one

surviving parent (the hen having died soon after the young

were hatched) and died in spite of my attempts at feeding it by

hand. I also bred in this aviary a hybrid between a cock Siskin

and hen Greenfinch, a very fine strong bird which I had brought

up by hand when old enough, but which unfortunately escaped

from its cage in the summer.


This is a very cold and damp place in the north of

Yorkshire, and the birds have withstood 35 to40degrees of frost

last winter, and intense damp cold this winter, and have all looked

well and happy except hen Avadavats, hen Green Avadavats,

and hen Combassous, which, though they did not actually die

during the coldest weather, suffered from it and died last spring.

The cock birds of all these species do not appear to mind the

cold, but I noticed that the cock Avadavat, who has been out



