A VI ARIES. Bird Shows. 



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fasten the lid of the box down, and cut a hole in the side just large enough to admit a 

 mouse comfortably. In a day or two all the mice in the aviary will make themselves quite 

 at home in this retreat. When a box thus arranged is left for a week in an aviary, and 

 then suddenly moved — care being taken to block the small hole before removal — box and all 

 may be put in a tub, and probably every mouse be removed and drowned at one stroke. 



The model open-air aviaries exhibited at the Crystal Palace for some years past are 

 better than anything of their kind which the writer has seen offered for sale ready made. They 

 are practically large doll's houses, seven or eight feet high, five or six feet wide, and two to three 

 feet deep, with a door in front. This door opens into an enclosure about six feet square, wired 

 all over, forming a miniature garden, which may be laid out with turf and gravel, and ornamented 

 with fountains, shrubs, &c. In this space the birds can bask in the sunshine, or enjoy a warm 

 summer shower, retiring at night under the sheltering roof of the house, where they arc 

 protected from rain and draught. If these aviaries are placed facing south-east, a great variety 

 of foreign birds can be kept in them without artificial heat, even during winter. For most 

 Australian Parrakeets these open-air aviaries are infinitely better than any bird-room or 

 in-door aviary cage. 



The writer's experience would, however, suggest an improve- ^ " — ==-,n 



ment of this, by far the best model, viz., to raise the floor of ^^^Kisi^ -1 ^1 



the bird-house some two feet from the ground, and by coating IIi!iB|SilliJ^^^2fc 



the lower portion of the front with zinc-sheeting to make it next I lilM^ 



to impossible for mice to climb into the house, it being simply I Ipli I ' 1 lill 



useless and hopeless to attempt to keep them out of the outer llll^^^^^^ i ^ ^ i 11' 



The seed-hopper shown in Fig. 75 is a very valuable piece of /il|r^'' l'^ ift iilili< 

 furniture in any aviary, if used as a supplement to seed-dishes ^fejj!!^~~-'^*^li' /IpilP^ 

 placed on the floor. If mice ever reach the dishes, the birds find ^^^^^^^7"""^^^=^ 

 a food-store in the hopper to fall back upon, and mice do not fig. 75.— seed-hopper. 



easily reach these hoppers if hung against the smooth wall of an 



aviary. Simple as the contrivance looks, these seed-hoppers require some daily supervision, for 

 they sometimes become clogged by dust, cobwebs, or damp, and no seed then passes down to 

 replace the grains abstracted from the bottom tray by the birds. 



The number of beautiful foreign birds obtainable at a reasonable price increases annually, and 

 the taste for keeping birds appears to be spreading rapidly in this country. It is much to be hoped 

 that at an early date amateurs may undertake the management of bird shows, and make these 

 exhibitions worth the attention of scientific ornithologists, and of real value to those who take 

 an interest in foreign cage-birds. The popular idea of a considerable risk being incurred by 

 exhibiting birds at a well-managed show is a mistake. I have exhibited hundreds of birds in 

 London and abroad, and have invariably found that fairly acclimatised birds suffer not only no 

 harm through being exhibited, but, if well cared for, come back all the better for their temporary 

 change of surroundings, and as distinctly benefited by a week in a bird show as a human being 

 is after a change of air and occupation. But as long as the prizes of bird shows in England 

 remain confined to a trifling sum of money, it can scarcely be expected that amateurs will care 

 to exhibit interesting and valuable birds as numerously as might be. Further, a foreign bird 

 show should be held by itself, and not subordinated to Canary shows. Canaries are generally 

 exhibited between December and March, for before December the stock bred in the previous 

 year is not yet fit to show, and after March the best birds are wanted for breeding. A cold 

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