16



N. Taka-Tsukasa — Aviculture in Japan



At present the aviculture of Japan is progressing rapidly, and many

bird-lovers are eagerly studying it. In the Meiji years this was much

neglected, and I think that the aviculturist of Japan will soon arrive

at the same level on this subject as the Europeans. Last year an

avicu]tural society began to hold its meetings in Tokyo. These are

held every other month.


The Japanese aviculturists separate the cage birds, as Europeans

do, into two groups, namely, the seed-eaters or hard-bills and the

insect-eaters or soft-bills.


(a) Seed-eaters or Hard-bills


The Japanese bird-lovers give this group of birds chiefly various

kinds of millet (the Japanese name is Awa), Panicum miliaceum (Kibi)

and Panicum frumentaceum (Hiye), in the same manner as the canary

seed and millet are used by the Europeans, and also, in like manner as

the Europeans, the Japanese mix any two kinds of Panicum , which

I mentioned above, in the same quantity for their food, and often add

the seed of Pellira ocimoides, hemp and rape, in such proportion as

one-sixth of the whole part of millets. This seed diet can be got from

either the bird fanciers’ or cereal shops.


We have no canary seed in Japan now, but about 100 years ago,

when the first pair of Canary birds were introduced into Japan, the

canary seed was also brought into Japan and was sown as the food for

the Canary birds, but some time after the Japanese found that the

above-mentioned kinds of millets could be substituted for the canary

seed, and they stopped the cultivation of the canary seed, so it has

become extinct.


With respect to the caging of birds, we use the box-cage generally

now, though sometimes a rectangular bar-cage is used for that purpose.

The Japanese box-cage is the same as the European one in its principle,

but in dimension the height of the cage is greater than the length or

width, and the box has in addition to the front door an entrance near

the top of the side or at the back of the cage, and the door slides in

sideways, while the door at the front slides up and down. This side

entrance is used for taking the artificial nest in or out from the cage.

The box-cage generally has a paper screen on the front for the purpose



