ORDINARY LIFE. 



and 3 are covered over with creepers, chiefly roses 

 and different kinds of ivies, adding much to the 

 improvement of the loolv of the wooden buildings, 

 which, left bare, would appear rather unsightly. 



And now, having described all my birds' 

 dwellings — save some little runs at present occu- 

 pied by a pair of Algerian Partridges and a 

 Tasmanian Squirrel — I will just add one or two 

 more details. I have told )'ou that the fronts of 

 No. I and No. 3 aviaries are open wire netting 

 (No. 2 has glass shutters in front). To prevent 

 the birds being frightened by cats at night, and 

 also to keep out the cold in winter, I have arranged 

 curtains to stretch across the fronts of both these 

 aviaries. The curtains are made of a wide, strong 

 material, such as Bolton sheeting; this is of a 

 sufficient width not to require more than one 





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breadth (and so avoid any join). Rings are stitched 

 along the top, and run on a tight wire securely 

 fastened at each end of the aviary, while one end 

 of the curtain is nailed to the end post of the 

 aviary, and the other end is ringed to fasten on to 

 small hooks placed to keep the curtain stretched 

 tight. 



In the day-time the curtain is just drawn back 

 to the secured end, and tied back by a piece of stout 

 twine, nailed there for the purpose. On misty 



days, or if it is very cold, the curtain is kept 

 drawn. There are, however, two things you must 

 remember : first, do not tie your curtain back after 

 it is soaked with rain ; draw it, but just leave it to 

 hang loose and dry. If you tie it in it will rot and 

 soon wear out. The other point is that if your 

 aviary is a long one, as in mine, 32 ft., you will 

 find the weight of the curtain when stretched out 

 will bend your wire in the middle, and cause it to 

 drop a little. To avoid this, put L-shaped screw 

 hooks along your aviary top beam, and just lift the 

 wire over this when you have drawn the curtain, 

 of course unhooking- the curtain before you draw it 

 back in the morning. 



In No. I aviary the curtain is run on an iron 

 rod, not wire, and is divided into two halves (being 

 strapped back in the middle and hooked at each 

 outer end), but where you have a length so long as 

 32 ft., and desire your curtain in one piece, it is 

 obvious \'ou must have wire, for an iron bar could 

 not very well be got long enough. 



I have now told you about my aviaries, so 

 shall pass on to the care of their inmates, their 

 ordinary life, and how to treat them when nesting, 

 in sickness, and when packing them to send away 

 to new homes. There are many little details which 

 only can be learnt gradually if you have no one to 

 help you, and I hope you may find the reading of 

 them useful, both to you and to 3'our birds. 



First as to your doves' 



ORDINARY LIFE. 



I feed my doves on a mixture of wheat, dari, 

 and a lesser proportion of hemp, white millet, and 

 a little rice. This is their diet year in and year 

 out. I have fed my doves on this mixture for 

 years, and find they thrive very well on it, for I 

 very seldom lose an adult bird, and some I have 

 had for very many years. This "Dove Mixture" 

 I get ready mixed by the bushel from our corn 

 merchant, having told him the proportions ; he 

 ch_arges sometimes more, sometimes less, accord- 

 ing to the prices of the seeds. I get two bushels at 

 a time, and the price for this quantity may be 

 10/9 up to 12/-. It is kept in the centre division 

 of the corn bin in the little seed room. I should 

 mention that I add the white millet to the "mix- 

 ture" myself; it is a seed I do not find the doves 

 much care for, and in the nesting season, when 

 young ones are being fed, I give rather more 

 hemp. On one of the shelves in the seed room 

 stand three large-size biscuit tins to hold the supply 

 of mixed seed for the different kinds of birds, 

 namely, parrots, doves, and tiny waxbllls and 

 finches, and these tins I fill up from the bin, 

 mixing the seeds myself as they are emptied. I do 



