N. Taka-Tsukasa—Aviculture in Japan



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proportion five-tenths of the quantity of animal food to vegetable

food, and the paste which contains the former, below five-tenths part

of the latter, is called weak paste, and above that it is called strong

paste.


The cage of the soft-food birds is an oblong bar-cage with a

detachable bottom, with a bar-grid attached to the bottom of the bar-

cage, and being detachable. This grid keeps the bird in the cage when

the true floor is removed for cleaning purposes, and it also keeps the

bird clean, as it separates it from the dirty floor. The cage also has

an outer cover, which is made of wood and is large enough to contain

the. cage, the entrance of this cover being made to receive a paper

screen for use when the weather is cold.


As the Japanese paste will not keep, it must be made every day,

and in summer twice a day. By strengthening the quantity of the

animal food and lengthening the time of light by putting the cage near

an artificial light, the Japanese make certain species of birds sing

their song at any time that the owner wishes to hear it.


By this method the Japanese have made Thrushes, Buntings, etc.,

sing in the early autumn, training these birds as decoys to catch the

wild birds as they come back from the north.


The most favourite soft-food bird -of this group in Japan is the

Japanese Bush-warbler. This bird has been kept for its song by the

Japanese for many ages, and even now the song is loved by the Japanese,

and as they do not try to breed this bird in captivity a great number

of the young birds are brought up by the bird fancier and bird-lovers

from the nest by hand every year, and they are very carefully fed.


The bird-protection law of Japan prohibits the catching of certain

birds which are scheduled by the law ; the Bush-warbler is one, so

we must obtain permission before taking the young bird from the nest.

When the fledgling reaches maturity it is trained to imitate the song

of the bird which is the best singer of its own kind by listening to its

song. The Japanese love those birds which sing their songs graduated

three times successively, that is, the first is the highest and the last

is the lowest, and the third one must be sung very clearly and perfectly.

Good singers often cost more than £10, and every year some meetings

are held by the lovers of the Bush-warbler to judge its song. The



