PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



THE work which I now offer to the public, The Natural 

 History of Cage- Birds, is one which I have long been solicited 

 to write by many of my friends. 



Many persons who would find pleasure in keeping birds, 

 are both unable to procure them, and ignorant of the proper 

 method of treatment. Others, while possessing a certain 

 degree of knowledge on these points, are unacquainted with 

 the best and easiest methods. It is for such persons, and not 

 for students of natural history, who are able to refer to more 

 scientific works for the requisite information, that the present 

 volume is designed. 



The statements contained in the following pages claim credit 

 and authority, on the ground that-lhey are the result of 

 personal observation and experience. Prom childhood, I have 

 always been passionately fond of birds ; and even now I cannot 

 pursue my literary labours with pleasure and success, unless 

 my room be enlivened with the song of some forty or fifty, 

 which flutter about me at their pleasure. The reader there- 

 fore may, naturally, suppose that I have bestowed considerable 

 attention on the subject, and endeavoured to ascertain not only 

 the easiest, but the cheapest and best methods of preserving 

 my feathered favourites in health. I have only to hope that 

 the success of my attempt to impart information to my readers, 

 may be commensurate with the opportunities which I have 

 enjoyed of collecting it. 



It is possible that different opinions may have been formed 

 as to the proper scope and interest of a work like the present. 

 The following remarks will explain the mode in which I have 

 divided the subject. 



I have described all the indigenous birds which may be suc- 

 cessfully kept in the aviary; and, with regard to foreign 

 birds, have confined my attention to such as are most usually 

 imported into Germany, and may be procured with little diffi- 

 culty. 



For convenience of reference, I have in this, as in my other 



