A Few Notes from an U )! f^rctoitioiis Ai'iarx . 135 
A Few Notes from an Unpretentious Aviary. 
By W. W. Smith. 
My outdoor aviary is only 12ft. by 5ft., and 7ft. to the 
peak of the steeply gabled roof, with a half door shutting' off 
the shelter and nearly half the back of the flight boarded. The 
rest of the flight is wired and the birds get every bit of sun there 
is, while sheltered from all rain. In it I have at present a pair 
of Cockateels with three young in their nest-barrel. I also 
have hve Green Budgerigars which are not old enougli to nest 
this year. The budgerigars are quite tame and 1 freciuently 
have four of them together on my hand or shoulder and even 
on my head squabbling together over a tuft of flowering grass. 
But they are also fond of nipping my hand severely, when 1 have 
to throw them off. But they are so tame that they only come 
flying back again and the whole performance goes on till my 
hands are sore. I attribute this fearlessness to the fact that 
I had them indoors during the winter, when it was too cold to 
turn them out ; they were therefore kept for three months in a 
flight-cage in the dining-room and accustomed to feed from my 
hand there. The water supply in the aviary is a cement pool 
in one corner, with a ])lug and waste pipe into the ground, and 
on more than one occasion I have seen them bathing in the pool 
in the sunshine as hap])ily as sparrows in a puddle. It was a 
very charming picture, these handsome little birds and the 
splashing" water in the sun, and, I think, a rather unusual one 
as, none that I have had before ever bathed although they loved 
to roll in wet long grass. They have also another curious 
habit. The aviary has a floor of coarse gravel and they collect 
and drop into the pool the largest stones they can carry. I 
daily have to take out any number u]) to a full handful. I can 
only think that they enjoy seeing the splash, as they appear to 
watch the stone fall before going to fetch another. I hud that 
a variety of food (within reason) suits them best, the staple, 
of course, being canary-seed, but they also get oats in the husk, 
rolled oats, and sometimes a few groats. The whole oats are 
preferred, I give them a free supi^Iy of dry grass-mowings 
removing the uneaten ])ortion each day, also chickweed and^ 
