282



Dr. A. G. Butler,



“ those silly Martins, which haven’t the pluck to remain all through

“ winter storms of stress and weather as we do, make the founda-

“ tions, and then we’ll just finish it off.” Oh ! I’ve no patience

with them. Regular Germans ! Ugly ; common ; and bullying !

and moreover distinctly spies.


So are the Cuckoos for that matter, as far as espionage

is concerned !



ECONOMY AND MICE.


By Dr. A. G. Butler.


Do what he may, the aviculturist as a general rule finds it

almost impossible to keep mice out of his aviaries ; and when these

vermin have once established themselves, they will (unless circum¬

vented) devour more food than the birds. A cemented concrete floor

does not suffice to keep mice out of an aviary ; for when three parts

grown they can easily slip through half-inch wire netting.


As a slight illustration, I may mention that each week for

years past I have twisted millet-sprays into the wire-netting of one

of my aviaries for the benefit of my Gouldian* and other finches,

and although (excepting when first renewed) I rarely see any finches

upon them, the seed has usually wholly disappeared from them

within three or four days. Concluding' that mice were responsible

for the rapid consumption of the seed, I tried suspending it at the

end of a long wire from the roof of the aviary, with the result that

it now lasts from two to three weeks without renewal.


In like manner seed-hoppers hung upon the wirework are

rapidly cleared out, and open pans of seed, if placed upon the floor

or upon a shelf, are not only freely plundered, but are liable to be

fouled by the vermin and thus rendered a source of danger to delicate

birds. To lay down poisoned food outside an aviary is risky, since

there is no certainty that mice may not carry some of it inside and

thus cause death to one’s pets. The much advertized mouse- and

rat-virus used to be very satisfactory; whether it is now prepared

with less care than it formerly was, or whether it is kept too long



* The last of these, a fine male P. mirabilis , born in Sept. 1905,

died Jan. 19th, 1915.



