on the Transport of Birds.



301



Ants, however, may give trouble, and must be combated by

applications of Kerosene.


Except in the cases of such birds as swans and geese,

which are not nervous and not likely to hurt anyone, it is most

inadvisable to have cages with wide bars permitting birds to get

their heads out. I have actually seen this advised for herons,

storks and cranes—all birds with most dangerous beaks and the

will to use them ! Where birds can be allowed the use of such

open fronts, the food and water are of course best put outside.


With regard to packing, the best rule to follow is the

feu r er birds the better. Sociable birds are of course best kept

in pairs, or at least in two’s, if of the very cuddlesome sort that

chums up with anything; very spiteful ones must of course be

kept singly, and may need solid instead of barred partitions.

But however sociable birds are, every effort should be made to

keep as few together as possible, so as to give the maximum

amount of room to each individual and to avoid the danger of

crushing or trampling if they are frightened, and the fouling of

floor, perches, food, and water.


Importation in bulk, lam inclined to think, has something

to do with the curious fact that a rare species, which necessarily

comes over a few at a time, is so often easier to keep than a

common one which arrives by the hundreds.


Of course soft-bills make much more mess than hard-bills,

and so cannot be packed so many together—or at any rate should

not be ; the dirtiest of all birds are fish-eaters and honey-suckers.

In the case of these last care must be taken to see that they do

not mess themselves up with their liquid food, which should

therefore be served to them in a vessel with a lid, perforated with

holes to admit their beaks. Water-vessels should be arranged so

that the birds cannot splash in them ; unless the cage is very

large, so that a bath can be put in in calm warm weather, the

luxury of washing had better be dispensed with for the voyage.

This applies particularly to waterfowl, for unless they can bathe

regularly and properly they get miserably draggled ; water does

not “roll off a duck’s back” if that duck has been short of

bathing accommodation of late.


(To be continuedJ.



