174



Mr Alfred Lockyer,



of the aviary. Observe, he never at any time offered to molest a

bird of his own size or fighting weight, but the poor little nuns,

Spice Birds, etc. had a shocking time. No mercy was shown to the

helpless victims, and what was formerly almost an abode of love

was fast becoming something like a bear garden, until it seemed

probable that my experiment might end in a verdict of “ wilful

murder,” followed by the well-deserved execution of the culprit.

However, just in the nick of time, a lusty Java Sparrow seemed to

grasp the situation, swore himself in as a special constable, and took

his British namesake in hand. From that moment the oppressor

knew no peace. He was driven from the food hoppers, chased into

corners, chivied about from morn to dewy eve, and every day made

frequent and painful acquaintances with the powerful beak of the

avenger. He was speedily reduced to such an abject condition that

he fairly screamed with terror whenever the representative of law

and order came within measurable distance, and each morning the

floor of the aviary was more or less littered with the unlovely

plumage of Passer clomesticus. The “ treatment ” was drastic but

effectual, and, after a few days of it, I thought the patient had had

almost enough, so I caught him and let him go—half naked, half

starving, battered, bruised and bleeding, a much sadder and. let us

hope, a wiser bird.


So passed the glutton, bully and coward from the scene of his

misdeeds, leaving his character writ large behind him, and the little

republic reverted to its normal condition of peace and tranquility.


My second aviary was built against a brick wall facing south

and consisted of “ night-nursery, day-nursery and playground.” It

need not be described in detail, there being no unusual feature about

it. It was here that a delightful friendship sprang up between two

birds of widely divergent species—an incident which supplies one of

those “touches of nature” which make the whole world—avian as

well as human—akin.


A little Spice Bird—the survivor of a pair—had got into ill-

health and seemed to be in a condition of perpetual moult—alto¬

gether a miserable-looking object. There was also in the aviary an

odd cock Budgerigar who, having no mate to claim his affections,

decided to bestow them upon the little invalid. They became in-



