THE AVIARY 133 



Many of our familiar birds, and, I believe, 

 most of the smaller foreign birds brought to 

 our country, will live peaceably together under 

 certain conditions. Indeed, such a "happy 

 family " arrangement is frequently seen in the 

 windows of our bird dealers, where bluebirds 

 and sparrows, orioles and cedar-birds, some- 

 times many others, are to be seen in one big 

 show cage. In the small menageries common 

 in our city parks, also, may often be seen a 

 large cage with a dozen or more different sorts 

 of birds living together in peace. 



The " conditions " spoken of as necessary to 

 success are two. The first is abundance of 

 room. Any individual, be he bird, beast, or 

 even human, will be made irritable by constant 

 companionship. Every one, even a little bird, 

 needs opportunity occasionally to get away 

 from his fellows. 



An ample bay-window, separated from the 

 room by coarse wire gauze, or, better still, a 

 small apartment exclusively their own, may 

 be made the happy home of half a dozen 

 birds. If a cage is used for an aviary it must 

 be very large indeed, or only a few birds 

 kept in it, unless they be the tiny African 



