148 Practical Bird- Keeping. — XIII. Tour aeons , cfc.


I kept my five birds (.Ptilonorhynchus violaceus ) in a large

aviary, about 15 ft. square, during the winter ; and in the summer

they had an additional outside aviary, in which were growing

tall Rhododendrons, small shrubs and bracken, in fact a small

piece of woodland wired in. They made a beautiful bower

between two Rhododendron bushes, and decorated it with broken

china (blue they preferred), sea shells, and any scraps they could

find. About April, they built a rough nest of twigs, high up in a

tall Rhododendron, and two young were hatched, but alas ! as

soon as they flew a bitterly cold night killed them. The young

were remarkably thinly feathered and the June frost was too

much for them. ( Avic . Mag ., N.S., Vol. I., p. 64.)


That these birds are highly intelligent there is no doubt ;

the grief of the poor mother I shall never forget, and she quite

forgot her fear of humans in the search for her dead babies.

A good insectivorous mixture, with banana or sweet water grape

are all these birds require, but the young were reared entirely on

live insects, mealworms and cockroaches.


I have also kept, for a short time only, three specimens

(either liens or immature cocks) of the beautiful Gardener Bower

Bird (Amblyoruis subalaris). They are hopelessly wild, in spite

of every protection in the shape of thick fir boughs. I cannot

say I felt any desire to keep them, as it is somewhat irritating

after weeks of quiet and care to find no improvement, and only

the same wild terror on your approach. These birds ultimately

met their death from this cause, and died from an injury caused

by hurling themselves against the wire divisions—too highly

nervous to submit to the dignity of captivity, they are best left

to their native wilds and freedom.


% % a- •»


And now I come to the most wonderful of all birds—the

Birds of Paradise.


Altogether I have had in my possession twelve different

species of this superb family. Some I have only kept a short

time, others have been years in my possession, but all are in¬

teresting and beautiful.


Those I am most familiar with are P. raggiania, the King

Birds of Paradise, Hunstein’s Magnificent, the Six Plumed Bird



