Cages and Cage-making. 41 



to agree wonderfully well. I also noticed pigeons and doves 

 among them. The British birds comprised thrushes, black- 

 birds, starlings, bullfinches, greenfinches, brown linnets, reed 

 buntings, skylarks, hedge sparrows, winchats, blue tits, robins, 

 and many other kinds. Among the foreign varieties I noticed 

 cardinals, spice birds, Java sparrows, budgerigars, &c., and 

 all seemed to thrive well and agree in a wonderful manner 

 almost a happy family. I must not omit to say that the 

 ground forming the bottom of the aviary was got out to the 

 extent of twelve inches or more, and this was filled in with 

 sand and fine gravel, and a garden rake passed over it once 

 or twice a week made it always look clean and nice. 



To anyone who has a taste for this sort of thing, I can 

 recommend it as a most interesting and instructive hobby; 

 but birds do not breed so freely where such a quantity and 

 so many different varieties are grouped together. I should 

 think there were about eighty birds of one sort and another 

 in this ornithological domicile. 



DEINKING-TROTJGHS. Fig. 23 is made of tin or zinc, and 

 furnished with wire hooks to hang on in front of the cage. 

 A piece of wire is run round the top rim of the trough, and 

 two pieces are left projecting in front, so that they can be 

 bent over to fit the cages they are intended for. Either wire 

 that has been tempered by heating in a fire, or copper wire, 

 should be used, as ordinary tinned wire breaks readily, and 

 iron wire rusts and decays soon. Fig. 24 represents a glass 

 trough which is secured to the front of the cage by passing 

 a piece of wire round it, boring two holes at the required 

 place through the front stay of the cage, and securing the 

 two ends by bending them downwards inside ; care being 

 taken that no sharp points are left to injure the birds. The 

 top of the glass should be fixed level with the top of the 

 stay and arranged to be central with the aperture made for 

 the bird to drink through. Fig. 25 is a drawing of a cover 

 to be placed over it. This can be made of tin or zinc, and 

 a wire passed round the bottom projects, as in the tin trough, 

 to form two hooks to hang it on to the front stay of the 



