THE AVIARY 135 



all puffed out into fluffy balls, with feet hid- 

 den, and heads tucked snugly out of sight un- 

 der their shoulder feathers, blue and yellow 

 and brown and red, side by side, is a lovely sight. 



Everything, indeed, that is placed in an avi- 

 ary must be several times duplicated to avoid 

 jealousy and contention. For example, a bath- 

 ing-dish to every three or four birds is indis- 

 pensable, unless the one provided is so wide 

 and shallow that half a dozen may use it at 

 once. The birds are sure to wish to bathe all 

 at the same time, and scarcity of accommo- 

 dation makes trouble at once. Green food 

 apple, sorrel, or lettuce should be put in sev- 

 eral separate places, so that no one or two 

 can appropriate the whole. 



With all these precautions, a close watch 

 must be kept to see that no one tyrannizes 

 over another, for our little brothers of the air 

 are surprisingly human in their characteristics. 

 Among them will be found the glutton, the 

 bully, and the tyrant, as well as the gentle, the 

 timid, and the unassuming, to be their victims. 

 I have had a bird starved to death by the 

 selfishness of a cage mate, and never suspected 

 it, closely as I study my birds. 



