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Cockatoos, and in less than a fortnight the building would have been a

wreck had I not captured them and placed them in their old quarters again.

A Macaw did make his escape, and amused himself on a high tree for several

hours, but fortunately I managed to secure him in the evening. A pair of

Great Salmon-crested Cockatoos behaved themselves no better. I should

imagine an oak would not be in their midst for any length of time. Not¬

withstanding all this, I do not wish to discourage those whose financial

circumstances will admit of their building an aviary properly constructed.

I should certainly say aviaries are preferable, as by giving birds their liberty,

which is a more natural mode of existence, their habits can be studied to

greater advantage.


First of all, I will give the dimensions of my bird-room, then my readers

will be able to form a better idea of the structure. The dimensions are as

follows: length, 36 feet; width, 14 feet; height, 15 feet; having a span

roof. The portion of the room facing south, from guttering four feet down,

is of thick glass, which is most important, as it admits plenty of light. The

building is fixed on brick pillars, and one would naturally think that the

room would be draughty from underneath ; to obviate this, in the winter

months, I have wooden slides to prevent any current of air underneath, but in

the summer these are removed when air is much needed to cool the room.


The building is of pitch pine, being double-boarded tongued together,

so that draught is out of the question; the whole of the inside is match-

boarded, stained and varnished, so that, with the inside, there are three

thicknesses of wood ; the roof is also two boards in thickness, and contains

a layer of felt, which tends to keep the 100m cool in the summer ; the outer

covering is galvanized iron. There is a six feet porch entrance, so that in

openingtlie outer door of this (which is entirely separate from the door lead¬

ing to the bird-room), the birds are not so much startled by anyone going

into the room, as they would be if the door of the room opened directly out

of doors, and another important point is that the room can be kept at a

higher temperature during the winter. For ventilation, I have at each end

near the roof sliding doors, which are easily regulated, to admit of necessary

air. Being covered inside with perforated zinc, there is no danger of a bird

making its escape.


As to the question of heating: some argue that the birds are best kept

without any artificial heat. I am no advocate for a cold room. Directly

one enters the bird-room to see birds shivering 011 their perches, is, I think, an

indication that they are not comfortable. In the case of tropical birds

I have noticed this particularly. I have tried several experiments, and have

come to the conclusion that there is nothing equal to hot-water heating. I

have two row T s of pipes round the room, and by this means the building can

be kept at any desired temperature, and bv such an arrangement the room

is always kept clean, and free from any objectionable odours, which are so

detrimental to birds. The heating apparatus, which is of the “Burkitt”

make, similar to the “ Loughborough,” is kept apart from the bird room, so

that any fumes that may arise from the furnace cannot possibly get to the

birds. This plan of heating I strongly recommend, being economical and

clean, and attended with considerably less trouble than oil, or gas, stoves,

which are in many instances unsafe amongst birds.


Now a few remarks 011 the internal arrangements. I have benches,

composed of lath, placed two inches apart, making the width three feet,

which are elevated three feet from the floor, and are on each side of the

room. In the centre, I have a similar staging, but this is raised to four

feet six inches. Ample space is left down both sides for any purpose. The

cages (which stand upon these benches) are made specially to suit the

different species, and there is sufficient room in each cage to allow the

birds plenty of exercise. The bottoms of the cages have a plentiful

supply of coarse grit and gravel, which is renewed every other day. The

water and seed receptacles are attended to once daily, and by such attention

I think our foreign birds can be made comfortable for many years, although

confined in close quarters. Some birds that I brought from the West

Indies twelve years ago, (one in particular, a good specimen of the Red



