ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY Bl^LLETIN. 



r93 



THE PHEASANT AVIARY. 



THE SONXEBERG AVIARIES. 



By Lee S. Crandall, 



Assistant Curator of Birds. 



A\'ICULTURE has never been a popular 

 pursuit in America; and just why not, is 

 rather difficult to say. It is not lack of 

 interest in captive living birds, for thousands of 

 canaries and large numbers of more interesting 

 species, are imported annually by the two or 

 three dealers who monopolize the greater part of 

 the trade. Unfortunately, verj' manj- of the 

 persons who purchase these songsters possess 

 only the rudiments of knowledge of their proper 

 care. Their avian interests are generally con- 

 fined to the one or two individuals which chance 

 has brought into their hands, and rarely lead 

 them to engage more extensivelj' in bird-keep- 

 ing. 



There is another factor, however, which un- 

 doubtedly has had much influence in bringing 

 aliout this condition. As wild birds near at 

 hand are the ones most apt to be caged by begin- 

 ners, the passage of certain bird-protection laws 

 has had the unfortunate effect of reducing to a 

 minimum the possibility that the first impulse 

 toward this fascinating study might be received 

 from the keeping of native birds in captivity. 

 As a result, American aviculture is confined to 

 the public zoological parks and gardens, and the 

 collections of a very few private individuals, 

 wliose numbers, hapijily, are now rapidly in- 

 creasing. 



Among tlic larger of the private establish- 

 ments is that of Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thomp- 

 son, at Canandaigua, New York, wiiich may well 

 be regarded as a model for its kind. "Sorne- 



THE PARROT HOUSE. 



berg" is an estate of very considerable extent, 

 about fifty-two acres being walled in to form 

 the home grounds. These have been developed 

 very successfully, along unusually artistic lines. 

 The aviaries are open to the public on every 

 Saturday afternoon from two until five o'clock, 

 and the entire park is likewise open on the sec- 

 ond and fourth Fridaj-s of July, August and 

 September. Thousands of people from Canan- 

 daigua and neighboring towns take advantage 

 of tliis hospitality, and enjoy the grounds on 

 those days. 



The aviaries occupj^ an area of about one acre. 

 Tliej' had their inception in one of less preten- 

 tious dimensions which ]\Irs. Thompson saw in 

 California. The first of the buildings, known 

 as "The Aviary," was built in 1902, and the 

 Pheasant Aviary, which completes the construc- 

 tion originally planned, was completed in 1909. 

 Tlie houses include the large Aviarj', the Jay 

 House, the Parrot House, the hospital adjoining, 

 and the Pheasant Aviary. On Jul}' 21, 1911, 

 the collection consisted of 891 birds representing 

 21G species. 



The Aviarjf contains an indoor space of fifty 

 by twenty-seven feet, witli an attached flj'ing 

 cage thirty feet high by Mty feet in diameter. 

 E.\clusive of this, tiiere are offices, an observa- 

 tion room and a small nniseum as yet undevel- 

 oped. The house is built of wood and cement, 

 tlie roof, one end and the side toward the flight 

 cage being entirely of glass, which is protected 

 by one-half-inch diamond-mesh wire. Numerous 

 roof ventilators and the openings for flight al- 

 low the free circulation of air that is necessary 

 to offset the heating effect of the large expanse 

 of glass. 



