AVIARIES, BIRD-ROOMS AXD CAGES. 41 



Finches, Buntings, or Soft-bills. Unless a man is an 

 exhibitor of birds or likes some specially for song, there 

 is no place so convenient to keep our beautiful Britishers 

 in as a good sized aviary here we can watch and note 

 their little peculiarities and characteristics. We see 

 them flying and perching, hopping from branch to 

 branch, and behaving generally as if at liberty. 



It is a mistake to turn fresh-caught birds of some 

 species direct into an outside aviary. Among the 

 Finches, the Bullfinch, the Redpoll, and the Siskin 

 could, if required, be turned in at once; but such birds 

 as Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Linnets, and Goldfinches 

 should be partly tamed first. One wants these birds to 

 be familiar so that they may be watched with impunity. 

 A bold yet quiet bird is always a favourite with us; we 

 do not Avant to have to dodge and chase a wild bird 

 round the flight to catch a fleeting glance of him. A 

 really wild bird soon contaminates its companions, and 

 with one such in the aviary, the whole of the occupants 

 dash about like mad things, frightening themselves and 

 spoiling their plumage. A bird that is freshly caught 

 and subjected to the process of taming while in a ca^e 

 will (unless a very easv subject) fray out or break some 

 of his tail and flight feathers. These should be ab- 

 stracted before he is turned loose, or he will be a con- 

 tinual eyesore to us the whole of the summer, or until 

 the moulting and growth of the new feathers. 



In stocking an aviary with British Birds it is as 

 well to have cock birds only; fortunately they are the 

 most beautiful, and consequently the most desirable 

 subjects to keep. If we admit hens, we admit with them 

 a heap of trouble. Xo matter what the species, the 

 trouble will be there just the same, especially in the later 

 months of the summer, for, curiously enough, birds in 

 confinement are then at their stoutest and best, and even 

 a common hen Canary turned loose in a flight full of 

 Finches or Buntings will be the signal for a regular 

 Donnybrook. 



In an aviary of breeding Canaries, one may with a 

 certain amount of safety have a single pair of Finches. 

 I have bred Goldfinches and Linnets in this way, 

 akhough the former were not reared to maturity (yet I 

 have known them to be with other fanciers). Frequently 



