36 The Common-sense of Bird Protection.


aviculture as an aid to the science of ornithology. Valuable as

museum collections are to the student of ornithology, they

teach nothing of the life-habits of birds, and in many cases these

can only be efficiently studied in properly arranged aviaries.

When we are told by those who profess to be great bird

protectionists that it is wrong to keep wild birds in captivity, it

always shows that these people know absolutely nothing about

proper aviculture; their knowledge of captive birds has

probably been derived from a visit to a few small bird shops, or

the Parrot house at the Zoo. where, until recently, the small

finches were kept in the most miserable and unsuitable cages

imaginable.


The purely sentimental bird protectionist is inclined to

judge birds from the human standard, imagining that their

mental capacity is about the same as ours. As a matter of

fact a bird’s memory is very short. It lives in the present, not

in the past or future ; its chief concern is the procuring of its

food and escaping from the numerous enemies which are con¬

stantly on the watch for it. During prolonged drought or

severe frost or snow it has great difficulty in procuring food,

and the chances are that it will die a lingering death from

starvation, if it manages to escape the talons or claws of some

predatory bird or mammal.


I11 captivity birds very soon entirely throw off their

natural fear of man, and become perfectly contented, with

food in abundance and no enemies to fear. In fact when

properly kept in aviaries they are absolutely happy, a fact to

which every one who has had any experience in aviculture

will readily testify. Were this not the case captive birds

would not sing, build nests, and rear their broods as almost

all are willing enough to do.


But we must not shut our eyes to the fact that aviculture

is, at times, responsible for a considerable amount of needless

cruelty to birds, and one can hardly enter a bird-dealer’s shop

without being painfully reminded of this fact. Overcrowding,

uncleanliness and rough handling often result in much suffering

to the poor birds, and this should be put a stop to wherever

possible. With proper care there is no reason why birds should



