206



Correspondence, Notes, etc.



The next case I wish to cite is that of two pairs of Black Kites,

received from the same place at the same time and of the same age. These

all lived together for some years in a large and lofty barn. In the spring of

1904 I placed a pair in a small ‘cage,’ 6 ft. x 8 ft. X 8 ft. high, giving them

a basket with some sticks, while a similar basket was placed against a wall

some fifteen feet from the ground inside the barn. The pair in the ‘ cage ’

laid and hatched, while those in the larger place contented themselves by

merely playing abont with the nesting material.


O11 another occasion I went in for mule breeding, and put up four

Canaries with four Goldfinches. Two of these latter had been for over a

year flying in an aviary with other birds, while the other two had spent the

winter in a bird-catcher’s ‘back cage’ (6 inches x 4 inches x 8 inches high)

and had been carried about for catching others, in all weathers, during the

whole winter. Mules were only hatched and reared from the bird-catcher’s

birds.


Lastly, I may instance my hybrid Ducks, which are all bred in small

pens about 10 ft. X 12 ft., while on the pond, where several pairs were kept

together, I could never get more than one pair to breed owing to the drake

of the nesting pair driving all the other birds about; and a similar story

might be told of my sniall bird aviary.


These practical experiences then all point to one truth, which has

long been known to practical bird breeders, viz., that success in breeding is

attained most surely by segregating pairs in moderate sized cages. And

since it stands to reason that a bird does not breed except in good health, it

follows, therefore, that moderate sized cages are not detrimental to a bird’s

health. In fact, the converse is true, namely, that many species can be

kept in better health in cages, since every individual can have personal

attention, and be given the special delicacies required for its perfect health.


Again, in ‘cages’ the birds can be more easily and closely seen, and

their beauty more appreciated, while, at the same time, their moults and

changes of plumage can be better studied, so that they thus become (pro¬

vided control experiments under more natural conditions are made) of

greater scientific interest.


Therefore, the arguments in favour of cages may be summed up as

follows :—


(i.) Birds in as good or better health.


(ii.) Breed better, more freely, and more successfully.


(iii.) Can be better seen and studied for scientific purposes, as well as

being more interesting and instructive to the ordinary bird

lover.


(iv.) They become much tamer.


Now what are the arguments on the other side ?


First, and perhaps chiefly the sentimental reason, viz., that it is cruel

to closely confine them. But surely this objection must largely disappear

(for sentiment will never entirely surrender to reason) when it is pointed out



