47


question, the healthiest and most intelligent representative ot

its species which I have hitherto seen. Soon after I became

possessed of it, this bird, in addition to its bright excited chirp,

uttered a number of harsh Weaver-like notes which I took to be

its song ; but, this morning (December 6th, 1897), when my birds

were just beginning to rouse from their long winter-night's,

sleep,-'' I heard what sounded like the recorded song of the

Indigo-Bunting (a bird which I do not at present possess) ; this

was immediately followed by three excited chirps, which I at

once recognized as uttered by the Superb Tanager.


The bird was sitting quietly at the end of his perch

farthest from the front, and, as I watched, he again sang the

same thin though cheerful little song, ending with the same

chirping notes twice more ; after which he stretched himself,

first his legs and then his wings, hopped a little way along his

upper perch, then flew to the lower one, and so down again to

his food saucer, snatched a morsel of ^%% and returned to the

lower perch to eat it ; he is anything but a greedy bird.



SOME BIRD-ROOM APPLIANCES.


By H. R. FiLLMER.


Most aviculturists can only devote a stridlly limited time

each day to the care of their birds, and it therefore becomes

ahnost a necessity for them to have such arrangements in their

bird-rooms as will enable them to quickly perform the work of

feeding and cleaning. In a bird-room well-stocked with proper

appliances, attending to the birds is a pleasure ; but in a bird-

room where nothing can be found wlien it is wanted, and where

every article in use is badly adapted for its purpose, the work

soon becomes a weariness, and often, in the end, the birds are

got rid of in disgust. My present purpose is to describe briefly

some appliances which I have found useful, and which I can

recommend to others.


Every bird-room should have an inner door, consisting of

a wooden frame covered with wire netting — this allows the outer

door to be left open for ventilation without risk of the escape of

birds or the entrance of cats. For the same reason, the windows

should be covered with netting, and also the opening of the


* I never provide my birds with a iiig-ht-lig-ht to enable them to feed at night ; it

is, in my opinion, absolutely unnecessary for birds in captivity, which generally eat more

than is good for them, and I would challeng-e anyone to show a better Zosterops an

I,avender Finch than those which have lived for over three years in my charge.



