d2 DESCRIPTION OF THE AVIARY. 



full of life, and happy and contented in their si- 

 tuation ; they chirp, sing, wash, feed, are merry, 

 and, having abundance of room, their plumage 

 looks healthy and beautiful, so unlike the dirty 

 ragged appearance they soon exhibit when 

 kept in a close, confined place, which, in a short 

 period, brings on disease, and eventually death. 

 Here they can wash themselves every morning, 

 and they appear always eager to perform their 

 matinal ablutions ; their unsullied plumage, the 

 song or twitter of delight with which they 

 reward their benefactor, show how happy and 

 contented they are in their confinement. 



In the aviary are separate cages, erected for 

 the purpose of inclosing such of the males of any 

 of the species, as may have their combative 

 organs in too high a degree of excitement ; the 

 punishment for such troublesome characters is, 

 therefore, in the first place, solitary confinement, 

 and should they not be reformed under that 

 treatment, they are finally dismissed the aviary 

 as incorrigibles. 



It is delightful to visit the aviary at a very 

 early hour in the morning, when the whole of 

 the inhabitants are in the greatest confusion, the 

 servants busily engaged in cleaning the habi- 

 tation, and giving supplies of food to the colony ; 

 the " plumy people" appear in the plenitude of 



