108 On ihe Size of Aviaries and Cages.


3 7 ears. A so-called drawing-room aviary cage of 28 or 30 inches

in length, 15 inches in depth, and 24 inches high is a world

for a pair of small birds, in which they can be as happy',

nay' even happier, than in a big park. In such a home they

can be seen, admired and studied, and if properly cared for they

will feel sure of their food, free from persecution of their natural

enemies, and will in due time, when property tended, proceed

to nest and breed a progeny'. I estimate that even delicate

small finches live about five times as long, when kept in pairs

as they do when kept with other species ; and I would never

think of putting rare and valuable birds into aviaries inhabited

by a number of species.


Very careful observation, during the last ten years, of a

variety of exotic Finches, kept in a so-called aviary cage in niv

sitting room, have made it clear to me that, if several kinds were

housed in the same enclosure, the birds would just feed and pass

their time in sitting listlessty on perches, rarely if ever showing

the beauty of their form and plumage, or the grace of their

natural movements, whilst, if onty one species was kept, all the

natural way^s and habits of these birds could be seen and studied

by observing specimens in the enjoyment of perfect health living

in complete happiness.


A somewhat sentimental idea, culminating in a doubt

whether ati}^ birds should be kept in confinement at all, is now

prevailing among ladies, and evidently cultivated in a good man}'

superior establishments for the education of rising generations

of the gentle sex. These good and kind souls have probably

never given it a thought or never heard how many wild birds

are destroyed by their natural enemies, such as birds of prey,

foxes, cats, serpents, etc.; what immense numbers perish

miserabty through want of food in winter, or during the long

migrations many species have to undertake in search of food

with the change of seasons.


Intelligently housed and domesticated cage birds are

protected from all these ills and ampty fed all the y'ear round.

If cared for as they ought to be by those who have charge of

them, most species will be perfectly happy in confinement, and

live longer than in freedom. There is a small Cockatoo at the



