Aviaries and Cages. 



29 



Bird cage manufacturers, even of long standing and of 

 higli repute, make many cages and aviaries that are ex- 

 ceedingly objectionable, and in some cases totally unsuited 

 for the purpose for which they were designed. 



Cage makers are not always bird fanciers ; hence they them- 

 selves are ignorant of the faults that exist in many of their 

 productions. Cages, as a rule, made by professional cage 

 makers, are too small for the birds they are made to 

 accommodate ; and this is more particularly observable in 

 cages for large birds, such, as thrushes, starlings, &c. In 

 some cages the doors are so circumscribed that it is with 

 difficulty the hand can be introduced to clean them out ; and 

 as to getting in a suitable sized dish to enable the birds 

 to partake of their morning bath, that is altogether out of 

 the question. Others make the apertures so small that a bird 

 cannot possibly get its head out, or so large that it escapes 

 bodily. In some cages the seed and water vessels are 

 most awkwardly placed, and in others they go inside 

 entirely, in the form of two small glasses, evidently designed 

 from salt servers. About an hour after a bird has been 

 supplied with its usual viands in a cage of this kind, it will 

 be found that it has scattered its seed all over the cage 

 bottom, and, having bathed in the drinking glass, nothing 

 is left but a few drops of dirty dregs for the rest of 

 the day, or perhaps longer. 



In some of these cages the perches are so awkwardly placed 

 that the bird can only reach its food and water with the 

 greatest difficulty, and in others they are placed so near to 

 the ends of the cage that the birds damage their tail feathers 

 by the action of turning round. Sometimes cages are con- 

 structed without a draw-board or opening to clean them out, 

 whilst others are encumbered with so much timber about 

 the parts that should be open, that sufficient light cannot 

 penetrate to the interior of the cage. These and other faults 

 of a similar character must be looked for and avoided. 



A suitable cage should be so contrived as not to be too 

 heavy to move about easily ; and it ought to give plenty of 

 light and air. The doorway should be roomy, and sufficiently 

 wide to admit of a vessel large enough for bathing purposes, or 

 a small whitening brush, to give the inside of the cage a coating 

 of whitewash twice a year. The perches and seed and water 



