>NTROr)UCTORV NOTK. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 



SOME GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF 

 BIRD-KEEPING. 



By AuBYN Tkevok-Battye. M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S.. M.B.O.U. 



Some of our friends who, fond of birds, have as yet had no 

 experience in keeping them may find it a help to hear some- 

 thing of the general principles of successful management. 



This means something more than merely keeping birds 

 alive ; it means keeping each one in that condition of perfect 

 health, and as far as may be of perfect activity in which the bird 

 would be if in the wild state. It is quite possible for a bird to 

 remain alive in captivity for years, and yet never to be really in 

 a condition of perfect natural vigour. 



A bird, if it is below the mark, may live and may even 

 nest, but it will not breed. The thoughtful aviculturist, then, 

 constantly refers in his mind to the home life of any given 

 species, so far as he knows it, and asks himself whether he has 

 as fully as is possible under the circumstances, reproduced those 

 conditions. We cannot all go off to far countries to study wild 

 birds there, but there are many books, and we have always the 

 analogy of our own wild birds to help us. 



Light or darkness, quiet or noise, space and shelter, 

 are all important factors, but none of them have the extreme 

 importance of Method, Cleanliness and Feeding. 



Method. Now and then one comes across a collection 

 where everything goes haphazard ; where things are done 'any- 

 how.' Cages or enclosures are dirty ; food is chucked in at odd 

 times and in indiscriminate handfuls ; the food of other days is 



