THE



2 49



Hvtcultural /Ifoagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCI ETY.



Nesv Series —VOL. VII. — No. 9 .—All rights reserved. JULY 1909.



AVICULTURE AT THE ZOO.


By Frank Finn.


The outside attachment of the Small Birds’ House, shown

in our frontispiece this month, will no doubt be the great attrac¬

tion for avicultural visitors, and I think most people will agree

that it is, in plan, about a model of what an aviary of the lean-to

type should be.


I have heard that the flights have been criticized as not

being high enough, but with this I do not agree, as a too high

flight is a great nuisance when birds have for any reason to be

caught, and if higher than the I'oosting-house it is always a

temptation for the birds to roost outside, and makes it very

difficult to drive them in. This defect has always been a great

objection to the fine centre dome of the Western Aviary at the

Zoo.


In the new aviaries are to be seen some very beautiful

species, which appear to great advantage among green outdoor

surroundings ; among these may be specified Raggi’s and Lawes’s

Birds of Paradise (Paradisea raggiana and Parotia lawesi ), Scarlet

Tanagers, Yellow-winged Sugar-birds, Australian Blue Wrens,

and Parrot Finches.


In one of the detached aviaries on the Canal Bank, which

is appropriately fitted up with rocks and boughs, four Keas

(Nestor notabilis), the sheep-killing Parrots of New Zealand, are

disporting themselves with the restless and meddlesome energy

so characteristic of this bird. Their movements, both on wing

and on foot, are not at all like those of other Parrots, but much

resemble a Raven’s. They seldom use their bills in climbing,

and frequently hop both among boughs and on the ground, while

their wing-action is Crow-like.



