130 Song Birds. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



OUT-DOOR AVIARY, AND BIRDS FOR IT. 



1. A REALLY well-formed aviary appears to me to 

 be very rarely met with. There is one mentioned 

 by Mr. Shirley Hibbert, which must be very charm- 

 ing ; a large conservatory looking towards the east, 

 being duly wired, and provided with the sloping bank 

 of plants and turf, and the fragrant flowers in which, 

 birds delight. 



This is, however, a thing far beyond the unassisted 

 management of an amateur, and is probably kept 

 in order at a great expense. 



My own experience in regularly built out- door 

 aviaries is extremely limited ; in fact, I never had 

 one of those in my own care at all. Those I have 

 known have been either mere large portable en- 

 closures, or an end of a greenhouse wired off, or a 

 room in the house adapted for the purpose ; the first 

 and last plans being those I have adopted myself. 



Mr. Kidd, the story of whose aviary of nearly four 

 hundred birds is very widely known, does not allow 

 the possibility of letting birds in aviaries have the 

 opportunity of mateing among themselves, and bring- 

 ing up young families. He seems to consider the 

 birds as only kept for song, and for their pleasant 

 company ; and in the view of preserving peace, he 



