Housing. 



1.-) 



end furthest from the house. The whole should be 

 covered with stronr/ one-inch mesh wire. In fixing 

 the wire have plenty of side rails and top rails; if this 

 is not done the wire will sag and bend, and not last a 

 quarter of the time it will if drawn hard and taut. I 

 have said the whole of the flight should be covered 

 with wire. This is hardly correct, as about three 

 feet from the ground should bo boarded, or covered 

 with corrugated iron sheets. If the wire is tarred it 

 will add to its strength and lasting power. 



COVERING THE FLOORS. 



As a covering for the floors of the lofts, there is 

 nothing superior to two or three inches of coarse pine 

 sawdust. If onh^ a scanty covering is put down it 

 flies all al)out the place, gets into the eyes and nostrils 



Elbow or Bracket Perch, for Tumblers, Magpies, 

 Nuns, etc. 



of the birds, and often causes serious irritation and 

 inflammation of the organs of sight and breathing. 

 The ground in open flights should be dug out to the 

 extent of three feet, and the hole filled up to within a 

 foot of the top with coarse broken clinkers or bricks, 

 then should come nine inches of coarse gravel, whilst 

 the surface three inches should be fine white or vellow 

 sand. Care should be taken as to where the sand 

 comes from, because if it is ironstone sand it is apt to 

 soil birds of delicate plumage. Where it can be ob- 

 tained there is nothing to surpass as a top layer sand 

 from the seashore, for in addition to making a nice 

 covering for the flights, it contains much in the way 

 of lime and mineral salts which are most beneficial to 



