Correspondence , Notes , etc. 151



inclosure they inhabit, but it is decidedly unwise to introduce other species

to their company, they bully and kill the small ones, and terribly annoy

such comparatively large birds as the Cockatiel. Zebra finches too are very

gregarious and not quarrelsome amongst themselves, but on the other

hand many of the Australian finches separate into pairs at the breeding

season, and the couples live as far as possible from the others, so that

lodging together or separating different species one must be guided entirely

by the habits of the birds. On the whole I am inclined to advocate the

separate system in inclosures of suitable size, not cages, nor yet large

aviaries.


In a public institution like the Zoological Gardens the interests of

the visitors should certainly be considered in the first instance, that of the

birds next. In private aviaries the conditions may be reversed, and if a

new building for the small birds is to be constructed at the Zoo it should,

in my opinion, not be of such dimensions as to preclude the easy identifi¬

cation of species by the visitors, and the idea of their breeding should be

entirely subordinated to this end. W. T. Greene.



Sir,—I do not think Mr. A. F. Wiener by any means proves his case

against large aviaries. The objections which he makes apply to badly-

managed aviaries, not to aviaries in general, If it is not always possible to

exclude mice absolutely, it is at any rate in the power of most aviarists

to prevent them mustering in “ hundreds, if not in thousands ” ; and rats

can generally be kept out altogether. When birds are caged up separately,

then vermin may still by chance get access to them, and then will do much

more damage; and this remark applies with much greater force to cats.


With regard to feeding, if all the food is put in one dish, there

certainly is a danger of delicate individuals and weak species not getting

their share ; but there is no need whatever to concentrate the food in this

manner. Nor would any practical aviculturist group his birds so carelessly

as to mix the dangerous with the harmless. With far less supervision than

is involved in attention to a number of separate cages, aggressive indi¬

viduals can be detected in an aviary and removed from it.


As to greed}' birds over-eating themselves, such an occurrence is far

more probable in a cage, where the bird has nothing to do and cannot work

off the effects of his gluttony by exercise.


In respect of breeding, it is surely quite notorious that very few

birds, even the freest breeders, can be depended upon to breed in cages;

unless they be species of ancient domestication, such as the Canary and

Collared Turtle, and even these can breed in far more vigorous condition

when flying in aviaries or rooms, in spite of fighting.


Speaking of fighting, when birds fight in the aviary, there is a con¬

siderable chance of the beaten bird escaping injury, at any rate for a time

long enough to allow the combatants to be separated ; whereas in a cage, if



