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fire-place. If the netting be placed outside the windows, the

sashes can be raised and lowered just as if it were not there, but

there is the risk that birds may injure themselves against the

glass. There really ought to be netting both outside and inside,

that on the inside being stretched on a light moveable frame-

work. It is not safe to have it only inside, for you are sure,

some day, to forget to replace the frame after opening the

window, and then, if a bird escape from cage or aviary, off he

goes !


A small sink in the bird-room is a great convenience, and

those who have experienced the comfort of it would never be

without one. The most suitable kind is made of earthenware,

is nearly a foot in depth, and is furnished with a brass plug so

that the water can be made to stand in it. If a supply of hot

water as well as cold can be arranged, the soft-food vessels need

not be taken out of the room to be cleaned. The wall behind the

sink should be covered with glazed tiles or sheet lead, to protedl

it from the splashing of the water, (a piece of gutta percha tubing

on the tap will minimise the splashing). If the food-vessels are

washed in the room, there should be a draining-board at the

side of the sink.


A small "sanitary dust-bin" is handy. Needless to say,

it should be emptied daily.


There should be a large ventilator just under the ceiling,

of the kind that can be opened and shut at will. Mine opens into

the chimney, and is never shut. If it opened out-of-doors it

might sometimes be necessary to shut it.


For food -vessels I prefer white earthenware, as it is

stronger than glass. Jones's Fountains are far and away the best

water-vessels, except for Parrots. A satisfactory water-vessel

for Parrots has yet to be invented. Ivories and lyorikeets I

supply with water in soup-plates, for they require a bath at least

once a day, whatever the weather may be.


I have used one of Clark's S3'phon Gas Stoves in my

^bird-room for five winters. It is safe and very economical. So

far as I can see, it has no injurious effect on the birds. I now

Taave an atmospheric stove (No. 3), and find it gives more heat

than those which give light as well as heat, and there is no

chimney to break ; but the heat cannot be quite so well regu-

lated as it can with the kind more often used (i.e., that with an

argand burner). This winter the temperature in my room has

never fallen below 54°, and generally keeps at from 58° to 60° —

and the gas is never full on. A pan of water should always



