CHAPTER V. 



MAINLY DETAILS. 



No MATTER what building we erect for our pets, be it 

 simple and home made, or elaborate and put together by 

 skilled workmen, we shall never have any success in 

 it unless it is properly and carefully managed. I once 

 knew a friend who had the most extraordinary success 

 with his birds in the most ramshackle aviaries imagin- 

 able. He was painstaking, and carefully studied the 

 wants of the inmates, and did everything he possibly 

 could to make them happy and comfortable his 

 management was perfect, which accounted for his good 

 results. 



ROOSTING PECULIARITIES. 



The perches, we have previously referred to. But 

 if we find certain birds will insist upon roosting or being 

 quite close to the wire netting, we must by a judicious 

 arrangement of perches induce them to change their 

 roosting site. This can be done by fixing a branch 

 fairly close to the wire, near the position they favour. 

 Siskins and Goldfinches are very much given to roosting 

 in a clinging position, tight against the wire. This is 

 especially noticeable in fresh-caught birds, and even 

 those that have been cured of the habit when living in 

 cages may commence it again when turned loose in the 

 aviary. It is as well to leave them the first few nights, 

 just suspending an old sack or placing a piece of board 

 against the wire near them, as protection from cats. 

 When they are seen to constantly retire to the same 

 spot, it will then be time to try some means of curing 

 them. They will often take to a twiggy branch placed 

 close to the wire, which can after a night or two be 

 put a shade farther away. 



