28 Practical Bird-Keeping. 



It should be large and shallow, with a waste pipe let into the 

 ground. I use earthenware cottage sinks, and make a flight of 

 two or three steps down into the bath by cementing in some flat 

 tiles. 



Half my flight, that portion nnder the glass roof, is floored 



with cement; the other half, directly nnder the wire netting, is 

 of crushed ashes over earth, with wire sunk nnderneath. 



It is a good plan to have a draw curtain, with rings on a 

 wire, across the front of the aviary. It keeps out the cold at 

 night and prevents cats frightening the birds. In the daytime it 

 can be tied back, but in very bad days in winter I keep it drawn. 

 In cold weather I also have a piece of canvas stretched and 

 nailed down over the wire top, and in summer this is shifted np 

 to the glass-roofed part to act as a shade, for the glass gets very 

 hot and trying to any nesting-bird sitting nnderneath it. Of 

 course, in a very large wire-roofed flight it would be next to 

 impossible to cover it with canvas, but my flights are, unfortu- 

 natel}^ only small 



I have to bring in a few of the doves in winter into a 



closed-heated aviary, even with the protections from cold I have 



described. The Bleeding Heart Pigeons have always to come in, 



and, as a rule, you will find any of the tiny doves, such as Cape, 



Passerine and Picui cannot stand the severe weather, they seem 



to have far less stamina than the larger varieties. A cold bird 



often ends in being a sick bird, and though I strongly advocate 



fresh air, yet I think it cruel to force a bird to winter out when 



its constitution cannot bear the strain. 



* * # 



Nesting. 

 Doves readily make nests and lay, but not so easily rear 

 their young. A good pair of parent birds, that are sober enough 

 not to start a second nest until the first is finished, are invaluable. 

 The aviary should be prepared for nesting by the middle of 

 February, all cleaning done, any fresh branches put up, and the 

 zinc nest pans tied in their places. These pans I have made at 

 our ironmongers, they cost 6d. to gd. each, and are shaped some- 

 thing like a flower-pot saucer, but with a rounded bottom and a 

 more slanting edge. They can be made any size, will wash, and 

 are never worn out. Holes are punched at intervals round the 



