Foreign Birds for Cage 

 and Aviary. 



PART II. 



INTRODUCTION. 



I commence this portion of my work with less ooafi- 

 denoe and. satisfaction than when I started upon 

 Volume I., because, in some of the groups to be dealt 

 with, I luave not been brought into personal contact with 

 .any of the species, and in others I have only kept one or 

 .two ; * nevertheless, since I wrote Part II. of " Foreign 

 Bird-Keeping," a good deal of additional information 

 has been published respecting the habits of these birds, 

 both at liberty and in captivity ; a,nd, when one can 

 quote the experiences of ether trustworthy observers, 

 it is almost ias satisfactory to oneself, and certainly 

 quite as much so to one's readers, as if one described 

 what one had, personally observed. 



Since the 1 smaller 'book appeared, birds formerly 

 regarded as of extreme rarity in private collections 

 have been much more freely imported ; so that, in a 

 general work upon the imported Foreign Cage-birds, it is 

 no longer possible or advisable to pare them ovtr. In 

 the case of the Humming Birds, though a good many 

 have been imported, none have lived long enough to 

 rendter them popular, and the general opinion seems to 

 "be that they will never be suited to aviary-life in this 

 bleak and often sunless country. I think myself that a 

 judicious selection of those species which occur at great 

 altitudes, where cold and snow are by no means un- 

 known, might readily be acclimatised here, provided 

 that the birds could be induced to feed upon some 

 rational soft food, instead of the quaint combination o-f 

 beef-tea and syrup hitherto provided for them. Any- 

 how, as matters stand, I see no utility in including 

 Humming Birds in the present work ; but the Bower 

 Birds, Paradise Birds, Crows, Pittas, Woodpeckers, 

 "Colies, KingfiiHhers, Toucans, Barbets, and Touracous 

 can no longer be ignored. 



The question is whether it is correct to regard any ci 

 the Game-birds, however small, as cage-birds ; that they 

 have been exhibited in cages; at bird-shows cannot be 

 accepted as evidence, because the same is true of Rails, 

 Plovers, and various 'birds of prey. I think myself tihat 

 it -would be> more correct for the smaller Game-birds to 

 lie included with the larger, and the Raiils, Plovers, 

 etc., in a separate work prepared by someone specially 

 qualified to write upon them. It seems to mo to be 

 absurdi to regard those birds as cage-birds which nobody 

 ever keeps in a cage. It may be argned that, as a 

 general rule, Doves are kept in aviaries; this is un- 

 doubtedly true, but it is by no means unusual to see a 

 pair in, a large cage, and eome of them may even be 

 "bred in such an enclosure. 



As in Vol. I. the Finch.es occupied the greater portion 

 -of the text, so in Vol. II. the lion's share falls to the 

 Parrots. Most of the species diescribed are of large size, 

 and therefore (excepting in the case of the Doves, which 



* Of the Starlings, however, -with, which, this volume begins, I 

 have had a fair number of species. 



sometimes scare, but never injure, birds of other orders) 

 are for the most part more suitable for cages or moderate 

 sized flights than for aviaries ; unless a man be wealthy 

 enough to devote an aviary to each type. 



In the case of the Starlings, they 'become much tamer 

 and are far more engaging when Kept in cages than in 

 aviaries ; in the latter, with smaller birds, some of them 

 are inclined to be aggressive, as the Crows always are ; 

 the Larks, if kept ,lor their song, are far better caged; 

 the Sulphur Tyrant can only /be trusted with birds as 

 powerful as himself; the Parrots, unless intended to 

 breed, should all be kept in separate cages. 



As with the species treated, of in Vol. I., the insecti- 

 vorous feeders are undoubtedlly the most interesting, but 

 they also occupy the bulk of the time which can be 

 devoted to one's pets, owing to the necessity of daily 

 preparing fresh soft food for them ; the Parrots are per- 

 naps the most popular, on account of their startling 

 colours and the power of speech which many of them 

 possess ; but, .until acclimatised, they are liable to go off 

 with lung trouble, cramp, or inflammation of the liver 

 or bowels, the latter being usually due to improper feed- 

 ing upon sloppy messes and animal food. It is true that 

 one group of Parrots (the Lories and Lorikeets) appears 

 to thrive, at any rate, for a year or two., upon a diet 

 which would speedily prove fatal to most other Parrots, 

 but I am not at all sure that even these would not be 

 far better if they could be confined to a less sloppy 

 diet with the addition of plenty of soft fruit : Canon 

 Dutton suggests scalded fig mashed up with bun. 



For anyone not particularly anxious for song, but 

 with a keen eye for colour, the Doves are by far the 

 best birds to take up. I must have both, and therefore 

 it has been necessary for me to keep all kinds of cage- 

 birds. Nevertheless, I find Doves very charming, not 

 because they are reputed to be harmless, and, are to 

 other birds for among themselves, with the exception 

 of the African Bronzewings, which are always amiable, 

 they are the most vindictive of all birds, not only pluck- 

 ing out feathers wholesale, but doing their utmost to 

 pull out one another's eyes if pairs of several species are 

 kept together. This, however, happens chiefly during 

 the breeding season, for at other times most of these 

 birds are absolutely apathetic. 



In the caee of illness, prevention is better than cure; 

 treat your birds properly ; feed them correctly, and 

 as the rustics say, " they'll live till they die. 

 if nobody don't kill 'em " ; but if you begin 

 to take up with fads, and reject certain excellent 

 foods because, under certain conditions, they may 

 be suitable for the cultivation of injurious micro- 

 organismis, you will only have yourselves to thank if 

 your birds die young. One thing cannot be too often 

 repeated, and that is, in the case of any indisposition in 

 an insectivorous bird, the finest medicine consists of two 

 or three garden spiders; if you cannot get these, look 

 in boxes and pots for hunting spiders. 



