20 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 tothe cost. I got three estimates from different 
firms, and decided on giving the order to Mr. 
Walker, of Meersbroolk Bank Works, Sheffield. He 
had done work for me before and it had worn well. 
Mr. Walker came over from Shefheld, and we 
talked things over, and J 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 IJ 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 5s. 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. .\fter the aviary 
was put up the final smooth layer 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 :— Fe a 
Original estimate for aviary ... .. .. 46 5 0 
Wood lining to roof . HBe iis sin “Or TO 
Glass roof & netting Raine tosame... 5 4 6 
Shelves for seed room & some cages... 1 8 6 
Spouting > 0 0 
Baths 7, one in each a the five divisions 
& 1 each in the passage & small aviary 7 4 6 
Fixing baths and making two dumb 
WHS: Gai. ake: fad oad cedar Game disease RSD IO) 
Lead waste pipe... eee ee 5 
Painting aviary 2.2 2 se ee ee eee TO 2G 
Levelling, bricks, &c. ow. wee 1 8 6 
Cementing floor Guke o HON, cate Uae: Sade WE BE 
Total, sage sei adhe. - Bek > Beh. el WG uh 16 
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. > aviary cost me nearly £76» 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 
really 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 goon. 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 year (’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 wire 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 
