APRIL — sept. 1859.] Notes on various subjects. 



61 



pied it upwards of seven years. A glance at the annexed figures 

 will make the following description easily understood. 



The floor of the aviary is composed of a platform of dealwood, 

 5 feet 4 in. long by 2 feet 6 in. broad strengthened by three cross 

 battens, this is surrounded by an upright ledge, three inches deep, 

 which in short converts it into a shallow box. To the inner sides 

 of this upright ledge, the four sides of the aviary (which are made 

 in separate pieces) are screwed. 



The front and back parts of the aviary are of ordinary wire 

 work, as are also the side pieces which are furnished with doors — 

 the top, which also forms the cover of the box when packed, is of 

 very thin dealwood. These being all prepared, it only remains to 

 screw each of the four separate sides into their respective places 

 inside the ledge of the platform, and to screw down the top over 

 all when the aviary is complete. When packed, the four sides 

 are placed within the ledge of the platform, or in other words, in- 

 side the box, and the cover screwed over all, it thus takes up no 

 more room than an ordinary camp table. The whole is supported 

 on folding legs. In lieu of perches I usually substitute two dwarf 

 shrubs in pots nicely trimmed, as giving the aviary a more natural 

 and pleasing appearance, a stock of ten or twelve of these shrubs 

 should be kept to admit of their being occasionally changed. The 

 floor of the aviary is covered with a tray of sheet iron, over which 

 is spread fine sand. 



No. 4. Ornithology. — To make a self-feeding apparatus for an 

 aviary. 



Although it is scarcely to be wished that those should establish 

 an aviary, who from press of work or other causes are likely to be 

 obliged to delegate the duty of feeding the inmates to their ser- 

 vants, yet still occasions will happen when it is inconvenient if not 

 impossible to attend personally to the wants of our feathered pets, 

 and it is to prevent the possibility of their suffering from neglect 

 at such seasons, that I have contrived the following plan for a 

 self-feeding trough which I have found to answer admirably. With 

 troughs of this sort, for both grain and water, a cagefull of birds 

 may, if necessary, be left for weeks without the slightest chance of 

 harm. 



