MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS. 



so that there is no down draught. The part that 

 opens is protected with wire to prevent any bird 

 escaping ; of course, this applies only to the outside 

 windows, those between the shelters and flights 

 need no wire guard. 



I fear this account is perhaps a too detailed one, 

 but I have mentioned the particulars fully in the 

 hope they may contain some useful hints to anyone 

 who is thinking of building an aviary. And now 

 as to the cost. I got three estimates from different 

 firms, and decided on giving the order to Mr. 

 Walker, of Meersbrook Bank Works, Sheffield. He 

 had done work for me before and it had worn well. 

 Mr. Walker came over from Sheffield, and we 

 talked things over, and I found him most obliging 

 and ready with suggestions, telling me clearly the 

 advantages, or the reverse, of each point under 

 discussion. He strongly advocated a wooden 

 lining to the roof, and I am very glad I did not 

 follow my first idea, which was to have it of metal 

 only. The estimate for the actual framework was 

 ^^46 53. od., but there were several improvements 

 added to the original plan, and this sum did not 

 include the cost of painting, brick foundations, 

 levelling and cement floor, and the waste pipes and 

 bath arrangements, all of which latter items were 

 done by local workmen. 



The aviary was made in large sections at 

 Sheffield, and took only a few days to erect, the 

 rough cement floor, brick foundations, baths, 

 pipes, etc., being put down first. After the aviary 

 was put up the final smooth la\'er of cement was 

 added, and also a narrow border of cement was put 

 round the inside edge of the open flights as a pre- 

 caution against vermin, wire also being laid under- 

 neath this portion. The brick foundation the 

 aviary was built on was a loose one, but owing to 

 the unevenness of the ground the western end had 

 to be raised to a higher level to make the building 

 straight. 



The principal items in the cost of the aviary were 

 as follows : — j~ c a 



Original estimate for aviary 46 5 o 



Wood lining to roof 6 10 o 



Glass roof & netting lining to same ... 5 4 6 



Shelves for seed room & some cages ... i 8 6 



Spouting 2 o o 



Baths 7, one in each of the five divisions 



& I each in the passage & small aviary 246 

 Fixing baths and making two dumb 



wells 5 iS 9 



Lead waste pipe 2 5 o 



Painting aviary 10 2 9 



Levelling, bricks, S:c i 8 6 



Cementing floor ■ 12 2 o 



Total 



95 9 6 



I should explain that the second dumb well was 

 made to carry off the water from the spouting on 

 the north side, and also -partly for the advantage 

 of my old aviary (No. 2) that I have previously 

 described. The original dumb well for this latter 

 aviary was only small, so now a connecting pipe 

 from it leads into this larger well made for the 

 newer aviary. 



The No. 2 aviary cost me nearly £yo, but I 

 consider the newer one. No. 3, is far the nicer, 

 besides being so much larger. I was more experi- 

 enced, and I hope more business-like, when I built 

 this last aviary, but it is only when an aviary is 

 reall)' put up that one sees clearly all its advan- 

 tages and disadvantages, things look so different 

 in reality to what they do on paper, and one's 

 ideas expand as you go on. I am not likely ever 

 to build another aviary in our garden-orchard ; 

 indeed, I have promised that I will not encroach 

 on the rights of the flowers any further, but if ever 

 I could afford the space — and money — to put up a 

 new home for my birds, I would make improve- 

 ments on my last building, alterations that, now 

 I have really kept birds in it, I can see would be 

 beneficial. 



I ought to tell you that this No. 3 aviary has had 

 a wire flight built on to the western end some few 

 years ago. This flight is divided into two parts 

 (with a communicating door). One portion acts 

 as a small flight to the little aviary I spoke of at 

 one end of the passage, and the other part is used 

 to put just a few birds' in, its present occupants 

 being a pair each of Cockatiels, Black-bearded 

 Doves, and two Violet Doves. 'The first-named 

 have reared three young this }'ear ('10), and the hen 

 is now laying again. A sturdy apple tree grows in 

 this flight. The floor is not cemented, nor even 

 underlaid with wire, but is just earth, and, in the 

 smaller half, beaten-down ashes. The larger half 

 has no proper shelter, so possibly I may take all 

 the birds out of it when the summer is over. 



No. 4 aviary is only a very ordinary type, and 

 therefore there is little to say of it. Perhaps I 

 should have mentioned it before No. 3, for it is 

 the older building. It consists of a shelter, flight, 

 and double door. The front of the shelter is wire, 

 with two wooden shutters to cover it in winter. It 

 has a boarded floor, a little window at one end, 

 and a doorway into the flight. The flight is just 

 wood and wire, with a wood and w^re porch and 

 double doors. There is a bath in the flight con- 

 nected with a dumb well, and the soil floor is under- 

 laid, as is also the shelter, with very close wire 

 netting to keep out rats. The shelter is rather 

 more than 8 ft. long by 5 ft. 10 inches wide. The 

 flight is the same size, exclusive of the porch and 

 double doors. Both this aviary and also Nos. 2 



