122 Song Birds. 



bad plan to fill the space with a mixture of old lime, 

 red sand, and chalk, which will be very useful in 

 keeping the birds in health. The boxes should be 

 so arranged as to be got at easily by doors, as the 

 water should be changed twice a day in summer ; 

 the seed sifted and refilled daily, and the filling-up 

 mixture every now and then. 



7. I will conclude this chapter by giving the exact 

 'working description of an aviary cage I have lately 

 had made* by the pattern, in great measure, of that 

 before alluded to. Mine has been made in a tolerably 

 satisfactory manner by J. Millar, Cotter's Place, Old 

 Brompton. This cage painted and varnished would cost 

 about five pounds. Woodwork entirely, of well sea- 

 soned deal. Wire- work, tin, (on many accounts to be 

 much preferred.) Dimensions : height, from floor to 

 top, four feet, i.e. from floor to spring of slope, three 

 feet, and one foot allowed for the slope of the roof. 

 Width, two feet ; length, four feet. The top slopes 

 down from a shelf six inches wide, which is at the 

 back. The whole front, back, sides, and top, are of 

 the tin wire mentioned. The bottom has a drawer 

 made in two parts to draw out, and a wire partition 

 runs up the cage, and is unhooked at pleasure. A 

 ^reen baize curtain can be drawn round the cage, 

 and a floor (a tray itself) can be put in to divide each 

 side into two stoiics making four in all. The doors 

 -are all at the ends, which also open entirely. The 



