24 



British Cage Birds. 



brass hooks or buttons, or with small bolts. The chief 

 entrance door should be kept locked for greater security. 

 The main door would be best glazed first, in small divisions, 

 and protected with wirework; and the front should also 

 be made so that glazed frames or sliding shutters can be 

 used in cold and stormy weather. If shutters be used, 

 the roof should be slated, and a large piece of glass 

 inserted to give light in winter time ; fluted thick glass 

 is best. If glazed frames are used in place of shutters, 

 the top may be covered with corrugated galvanised iron, or 

 wood and felting, tarred to keep out the wet and cold. 



At the farthest end, opposite the door, a few shelves should 

 be put up, and divided by wooden divisions like pigeon-holes, 

 about Gin. square, and a lath nailed along the front for the 

 birds to rest on. In these holes nests can be placed, or if 

 the birds are supplied with proper material, they will build 

 nests for themselves in these receptacles. Perches should 

 likewise be fixed at convenient distances and in suitable 

 places ; stout half-round perches, made of hard wood, and 

 fitted with small wood blocks, notched out, so that they can 

 be readily fixed or removed, to be cleaned when required. 

 A couple of seed-hoppers and two water vessels should be 

 fitted on the front, so that they can be readily got at by 

 the birds ; a piece of wood, with wire hooks fixed to it, 

 should be used to place over the apertures whilst the hoppers 

 are removed to be replenished, so that the occupants cannot 

 escape ; the hoppers should be framed and glazed at the top 

 and in front. The height of the aviary should not be less 

 than 2ft. in front, with a 2ft. pitch. This would accom- 

 modate fifteen to twenty small birds of any sort. To put 

 in more would overcrowd it. 



Where there is a stable or other outdoor building that is 

 not being used, an aviary can easily be formed by fitting a 

 framework of stout galvanised wire on to a wooden bottom, 

 and fixing over the window with iron brackets and straps, 

 and, inside the building, making an inner aviary formed of 

 wood, or wood and wire, to act as a shelter or retreat. This 

 could be put up at a trifling cost. The lower sash of the 

 window could be made to open and close by using pulleys 

 and a cord, and attaching a large sash weight to it ; or a 

 square of glass could be removed and a small frame fixed 



