Thk British Warbi^kks. ii 



inherited experience of their race has tanght them that their 

 nocturnal enemies are mostly four-footed. In a large cage one 

 usually sees a large number of perches but this appears to me to 

 be quite a wrong principle. We shall only require two perches 

 and these should be set as far apart as possible and should be 

 twigs of varying diameter, thus preventing any tendency to 

 cramp. The object of setting our perches as far apart as possible 

 is to compel our Warblers ^o fly from perch to perch (instead of 

 jumping) thus exercising their wing-muscles. Except in a 

 position where it is impossible to avoid draughts the ends (sides). 

 of the cage should not be of wood. With a cage of this type it 

 is quite easy to make a single bird take regular exercise. All 

 that is necessary is to lightly tap one end of the cage, thus 

 inducing the bird to fly to the opposite perch; then to tap the 

 other end of the cage, thus driving it back to its original position. 

 After a little practice it will be found that the bird can be made 

 to take really hard exercise in this way and this can be continued 

 until it shows signs of distress by opening its beak. Contrary to 

 what might be supposed this system of exercising will not make 

 a bird wild. I once had a Sprosser, which I used to frequently 

 exercise in this vv^ay, and yet it became so familiar that I 

 succeeded in training it to sing to command and several of my 

 friends can testify that it would do this even in an out-door 

 aviary and in the presence of strangers. 



Wire netting does not look so well for cages as wiring but 

 it is infinitely preferable because in this way only can mice be 

 excluded. I think we can go so far as to say that any cage to 

 which mice have access, no matter what its cost or how artistic 

 its appearance, is a bad cage. The netting I recommend is of 

 three-eighths of an inch mesh and can be obtained at Gamage's 

 to order, but only in lengths of 50 yards. 



Aviaries. 



A mere glance at the names of the species in out list will 

 convince us that one type of aviary cannot possibly suit the 

 requirements of all ; and, moreover, the same design would not 

 suit all pockets or all tastes, so in the matter of aviaries it will 

 be better merely to suggest what should be avoided and what 



