08 Son a Birds. 



these proportions, I have very little douht that with 

 commonly good management the result would he 

 satisfactory. 



9. Of course any number less than that named 

 would do quite as well or better, as it would give 

 more room, or in increasing the number for a larger 

 space, the proportions can be kept up ; though I 

 do not recommend any one to try more than fifty 

 birds for the first beginning. In too great a multitude 

 half the pleasure is lost of the clever tricks one 

 sees played, by not being certain of the individuality 

 of the culprits. For my own part I never wish to 

 have more than two dozen grown-up birds at once. 



10. It will of course be remarked that in my list 

 for the aviary, I have excluded Warblers or the 

 Sylvia ; (Nightingales, Black-caps, Garden Warblers, 

 White throats, and many others of the same class 

 of birds ;) birds, that is, eating insects, seeking in 

 winter a warm climate, and generally shy and very 

 much given to avoid the- approach of any stranger. 



These birds are always difficult to keep, and, unless- 

 one of them has chanced to grow very tame and 

 fond, the mere feeling of their unhappiness is enough 

 to make their presence in cages painful. 



Their misery when first caught is very great, and 

 I do think it is a very cruel thing that they should 

 be taken after they are once fledged. The young 

 birds may get tame and be really happy ; but it is 



