262 FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



they answer very well when folded several times and 

 tacked loosely round the inner edges of the lid so that 

 they bulge down a little in the centre. Then, when the 

 bird bumps up its head it is not hurt as it would be 

 if it struck against the bare hard wood. A perch, too, 

 should always be provided in the box for such birds 

 as use one, and the food, instead of being scattered on 

 the floor where it soon becomes defiled by the prisoner's 

 excrement, should be confined in one corner by a 

 little piece of board a couple of inches high so as to 

 give room for a supply sufficient to last through the 

 journey and a little to spare. Some soaked bread 

 similarly fastened in the opposite corner will serve 

 in lieu of water, which cannot be conveniently 

 put in. 



Between two opposite corners of the box a round 

 or square hole should be made large enough to admit 

 a sufficiency of both light and air, and this hole 

 should be protected by means of a piece of perforated 

 zinc nailed or screwed over it on the inside. In a box 

 thus fitted a bird may be sent quite safely even for a 

 long distance; it will travel comfortably and arrive 

 without a ruffled feather. 



To resume : some months after the experience I 

 have related, a man who kept a bird-shop in my then 

 neighbourhood, called on me with a couple of extremely 

 nice-looking Turtle Doves in an old Parrot-cage. He 

 assured me that they were perfectly tame and would 



