120 GRAVEL-PAPER AND SPRING PERCH. 



such is the fact. To those who have not studied 

 this branch of natural history, and buy for the first 

 time a bird and cage, always take the bird-dealer's 

 advice as regards the cage. Your bird will then 

 sing readily, remain quiet, and not fly as if afraid 

 of his life, and ruin his plumage the first day that 

 you possess him. 



Amongst the many recent patented improvements 

 for a bird's comfort, none are more worthy of men- 

 tion than the Singer gravel-paper, and Aldom's 

 Patent spring perch. The gravel-paper is cut of 

 suitable sizes to fit cages of almost every shape. 



The paper is a very superior quality of heavy ma- 

 nila, and the gravel, or bird sand, is of the choicest. 

 It is so placed as to loosely adhere to the paper by 

 a very small quantity of paste, made from the best 

 of flour, which allows the bird to pick it off very 

 readily ; and this gravel is just as essential to a bird 

 as his seed or bath. It also keeps the bottom of a 

 cage in excellent condition ; and last, though not 

 least, it keeps the bird's feet perfectly clean, thereby 

 keeping him, as the inventor claims, " in health and 

 song." 



The Aldom spring perch is an ingenious device 

 at imitating the swaying of the limb of a tree: it 

 gives to the bird a very graceful appearance ; and 

 is unlike the old-fashioned swing, which has broken 

 so many limbs of birds. With this perch such an 

 occurrence is an impossibility. 



