36 Practicat, Bird-Keeping. 



pipes it is necessary to drive a small boiler so fiercely that it 

 requires constant stoking, and thus burns much more fuel than 

 a larger boiler which is allowed to burn gently. 



Aviary Fittings. 

 A tray, about two inches in depth and from nine to twelve 

 inches in diameter forms a very useful receptacle for seed. It 

 should be supported upon a light iron framework hung from the 

 roof, where mice cannot reach it, and in such a way that it can 

 be lifted out for cleaning daily. 



Nesting boxes are made in varying shapes and sizes. They 

 should be oblong in shape, with an entrance hole at one end near 

 the top, a short perch just below this hole, and a small door near 

 the end farthest from the entrance, for inspection and cleaning. 

 The bottom of the box should be so formed that there is a 

 saucer-shaped depression near the end, and a gentle slope down 

 to this from the entrance. 



For such Parrakeets as Cockatiels, Rosellas, Redrumps, and 

 so forth, the dimensions of the box would be : length, i foot 6 

 inches; height and width S inches ; and the entrance 2^ inches 

 in diameter. For larger birds, such as Kings, it should be some- 

 what larger, and rather smaller for such as the smaller Conures 

 and Lorikeets. 



For Budgerigars I have fotind the most suitable box is one 

 eight inches in height by six inches in the other two dimensions, 

 with an entrance hole of ij inches in diameter, and the bottom 

 made slightly concave. But for these little Parrakeets several 

 nesting-boxes can be made in one as they are gregarious and 

 very sociable and do not object to their nesting-holes being only 

 a few inches apart. 



Nestboxes should always be fixed high up on the walls of 

 the covered portion of the aviary, preferably in a corner as far away 

 from the door as possible and somewhat hidden by brush-wood. 

 Perches should be freely supplied, and should consist 

 merely of strong branches of trees securely fixed to the walls or 

 roof. If perches or seed-tray are hung from the roof by a stout 

 wire, this should have a stick wired on to it to make it visible to 

 the birds, and so prevent them flying against it, as they might do 

 if the wire were practically invisible. 



