26



Mrs. Katharine Currky,



(the largest 5ft. 4m. high to top of gable, 5ft. 4m. long and 2ft.

6in. wide), I place boughs of the trees the birds are partial to,

and there are movable perches as well—of wood with the bark on.

On the ground (unless it is on a smooth lawn that would be

injured) I place logs and stones for insects, beetles, woodlice,

worms and slugs to collect under, and move them every two or

three days to let the biids catch them. They have a large

flower-pot saucer of fresh water to bathe in, and in hot weather

I water the aviaries well to have the atmosphere damp. The

boughs keep fresh for a few days by placing them in long tins

of water hung on to the wire inside the aviary, the water changed

every day or two.


Every morning, after cleaning out the cages, I place one

of them on the ground against a door of one of the aviaries.

Up against the larger door I hang a wire-netting screen on the

aviary to fill up the space between the top of the door and the top

of the cage; the cage keeps it firm in its place. I open the cage

door into the aviary and the bird has a large pleasure-ground to

fly in and enjoy himself in all day till sunset, when I merely have

to tap with a stick on the aviary and they hop into their home-

cage on to the roosting-perch. The advantage of the aviaries

being movable is that the birds’ pasture-ground can thus be

changed, and their position in the garden, on a lawn, or in an

orchard, with a warm aspect in winter and a cool shady one in

summer, and a sheltered one against March winds. The aviary

is easy to lift about and can be placed so as to enclose a little tree

or shrub or a tangle on an old stump or bit of rockery, where the

birds can have a happy hunting-ground. My birds very soon

learnt to understand their mode of life, and clamour to get

out every morning, and generally go in to roost of their own

accord.


I take them in out of the way of cats, rats, owls or weasels,

for I have had some sad experience of leaving them out all night

in the aviary. They go out all the year round, in almost all

weathers; some birds stand the hardest frost and the coldest

winds, if provided with plenty of food and water, but others do

not. I have to take in my Rock Thrush (I have had him about

fifteen years) whenever there is a cold wind, especially now that



