•58 NESTING BOXES, ETC. 



again, and a Lory, resplendent in red and green, 

 darts through the air and hghts on the top of 

 the tripod, his burnished hues contrasting well witli 

 the pure white of the Cockatoo below, and the 

 group is completed by a Cornish Chough, whose 

 glossy blue-black plumage and orange beak and legs 

 are not the least striking of the costumes. He 

 always at once engages in a fierce strife with his 

 rivals and his long beak gives him the advantage 

 over them." 



Mr. Buxton very forcibly shows the benefit of 

 these having their freedom rather than being con- 

 fined within the limits of a cage when he says: — 

 "Nothing can be more striking than the contrast 

 between the plumage of the Parrots when they 

 first come and its appearance after they have been 

 flying about for a few weeks when it acquires 

 ■a gloss and a glitter like that of burnished metal." 

 And so it is with all our wild birds which, to be seen 

 in perfection, must have their freedom. 



As to nesting boxes, Mr. Sydney Buxton says : — 

 "We cultivate the acquaintance of the wild birds, 

 especially the smaller ones, by fixing nest boxes 

 against the trees round about the house for tliem 

 to build in. The boxes for the small birds are 

 inside about tliirteen inches lono; and three broad 



