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Some consider bird-shows cruel. With this I cannot

agree. Although I am not myself an exhibitor, I believe that

Shows have their uses, and on the whole do more good than

harm. But it must be conceded that many things connected

with Shows are capable of improvement from a humanitarian

point of view. The suggestion has been made that the Show

Committees should reserve power, under the rules, to disqualify

any exhibit sent in a cage which they consider too small or

otherwise cruelly unsuitable, and also to either remove the bird

into a proper cage until the close of the Show, or return it

immediately to the owner. I think that some such rule is really

necessary.


A larger and more important question (and the one which

I had chiefly in my thoughts when I chose the title for this

paper) is as to whether certain species and groups of birds are

not, by their very nature, so unsuited for captivity as to make

their confinement in itself an adt of cruelty. Personally I feel

bound to answer the question in the affirmative, and I should be

disposed to put a good many species “ outside the limits.” All

the species of Swallows seem most ill-adapted for life in cage or

aviary, and I think we ought to do all we can to discourage their

capture. There are other species, such as the Wren, the Chiff-

chaff, and the Willow-warbler, which endure captivity so badly

(chiefly because of food difficulties) that their capture seems

almost equally undesirable. If the secret of keeping these birds

in health could be discovered, the objection would vanish—but

so long as their confinement leads to the death of nine out of

ten within a few weeks, and ninety-nine out of a hundred

within a few months, it appears mere cruelty to cage them.


Another practice which we all agree in condemning is the

endeavouring to keep delicate insectivorous birds while un¬

willing or unable to bestow upon them the care and attention,

and the somewhat expensive and troublesome food, which they

require. The keeping of such birds as the Nightingale is

perfectly legitimate, if they bt properly kept ; but such keeping

involves a considerable expenditure of both time and money,

and those who are not prepared to incur this should restrict

themselves to seed-eaters.


In writing these notes I have endeavoured to avoid undue

dogmatism. I hope my readers will understand that my object

is to suggest a line of thought, not to lay down a series of rules.



