133



Mr. H. C. Martin,



For perches I use principally small branches placed

horizontally fairly high up, out of the way of one’s head, and

more or less on the same plane so that they do not get soiled

too quickly. They cost nothing, are easy to replace, and the

birds seem to prefer them to other perches, finding much

amusement in stripping off the fibre and nibbling at buds and

so on. It is not a bad idea to suspend in the open part of one’s

aviary, by the thick end, a spreading piece of branch or a small

dead bush free from leaves ; it soon becomes a favourite perch,

especially if one places there the usual piece of cuttle-bone

or an occasional apple, which I find all my birds are

fond of. For ordinary, permanent perches there is nothing

better than those long, round sticks, called “ dowels,” which are

sold for id. or i^d. each at the oil shops; what they are really

for I have never found out, but they are of just the rightsize and

are made, evidently by machinery, from some tough, hard

wood—beech, I fancy—and are much superior to ordinary soft

brittle deal. Many canary fanciers maintain, I believe, that the

proper shape for a perch is broad and flat. This seems to me

ridiculous since Nature makes her perches almost invariably

round, and a small bird’s foot is surely exactly adapted to grip

more particularly a circular object. (This is no doubt why the

intelligent bird-cage maker generally makes his perches square.)

A proof that broad thick perches are not the most comfortable is

that many birds will choose the very slenderest little twig to

roost upon, and a Siskin of mine—though Siskins are certainly

eccentric in the matter of roosting places—likes nothing better

than to tuck himself away on a thin, solitary French nail, an inch

and a half or so long, sticking out of a top plank of the aviary

at an angle of nearly 45 0 .


Whitewash is often recommended for the inside of an

aviary; for my part I think it is a great pity to use such coarse

stuff on any neatly-made wood-work and, until this year, I have

always employed ordinary oil paint, which has much to

recommend it. This spring, however, I made a trial of one of

the patent water paints, and was so satisfied with the result that I

should certainly use it again. It is ver} r easily applied with a

large brush, and dries quickly like distemper but does not rub off.



