AVIARIES, BlitD-ltOOMS AND CAGES. 



be cleared off by its use. The common penny break- 

 back traps are the best. These have a small piece of 

 wood to place the bait on. This wood or tongue should 

 be slightly greased v and then have a few grains of 

 canary seed sprinkled upon it. It is, of course, useless 

 and dangerous to set this trap inside the aviary, there- 

 fore it should be placed somewhere close by. If a box 

 or piece of wood is leaned against the wall, over the 

 trap, mice will be sure to run under it, and will not 

 trouble to go inside the flight when good sound seed is 

 to be found outside. If you should happen to have a 

 tame Magpie among your birds he will be vastly inter- 

 ested in your doings and more so when the robber is 

 caught, for Mag. dearly loves a mouse. 



If we are much troubled with mice it will be necess- 

 ary to try some means of keeping them away from the 

 seed. The best method of accomplishing this is by 

 having a hanging seed hopper, and even then one is 

 not absolutely safe, for 

 these little animals get 

 into what are seem- 

 ingly inaccessible 

 places. But if we use 

 the hopper depicted in 

 Fig. 24 they are much 

 more likely to be satis- 

 fied with the seed 

 spilled upon the floor 

 of the aviary. 



This hopper should 

 be suspended from the 

 roof of the aviary, 

 When putting it up, 

 one should be careful to 

 fasten it to as clean 

 and smooth a place as- 

 nnccihle that is there Fig. 24. Double Hanging Hopper, with tin 



I5 - disc to prevent mice getting at contents, 



should be no perches 



near, nor any cross bars of timber or rough boards. 

 Mice are so active that hardly anything stops them, and 

 it is well to be careful not to give them an advantage. 

 The hanging hopper should not be within jumping dis- 

 tance of any projecting point they are able to reach. 



