CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS 



A SAMPAN S DECK IS FOOK KEE S 



Phdtt.Rraph In- All 

 BARGAIN COUNTER 



"Birds to sinp. If not sing can will be to change other. Dealer at moderate price." So reads 

 a Chinese vender's shingle on his "houseboat" moored to a wharf at Kowloon, on the mainland 

 opposite Hong Kong. Like water beetles, flotillas of junks and sampans crowd the shores of Cathay's 

 rivers. They are floating homes for thousands of families who never sleep on land. 



the birds did not thrive and tht-ir introduction 

 there has been called a failure. 



StrawJ>erry Finch 



Next to the canary, the weaver birds, or 

 weaver finches (Family Ploceidae), are among 

 the most popular of aviary birds, though here 

 we deal with a great variety instead of a single 

 kind. This is an Old World family of many 

 species that are handled easily in captivity. 



Weavers range in size from small to tiny, 

 and are often of beautiful and striking plumage. 

 Like the sparrow tribe, they live on seeds and 

 so are easily maintained. 



Enter the birdhouse in any extensive zo- 

 ological garden, and soon you are certain to 

 find an aviary with a swarm of little birds that 

 fly continually from food trays to perches 



or from place to place about the enclosure 

 in vivacious activity. These are weaver finches, 

 the group ordinarily consisting of several kinds 

 confined in company. In separate aviaries, 

 where they are not too much disturbed, they 

 often nest and rear young. The species in this 

 group, in the wild state, are most abundant in 

 Africa and in the Indian and Malayan regions. 



Many years ago I saw in a bird store a pair 

 of handsome but tiny birds that the dealer 

 told me were strawberry finches (Color Plate 

 IV I. They so intrigued my fancy that they 

 soon were mine. 



The birds were sent home in the usual little 

 wicker cage wrapped carcfulh- in paper. A 

 peep through the wrappings showed them rest- 

 ing quietly, and a spare canary cage was soon 

 ready for their reception. 



