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John Wilcock—Some Aims and Ideals in Aviculture



just that “ extra pair Resist it manfully. Many of the parrot¬

like birds take the matter in their own hands (or beaks) and set about

readjusting the density of the population by killing each other ; with

other birds the error can often be persisted in without actual losses

from carnage, but breeding results are poor and we say the species

are uncertain or difficult breeders, or deaths result and the birds are

blamed for being delicate, not the owners for being bad naturalists.

Applied natural history goes a long way to successful aviculture ;

I suppose that is what is meant by “ bird-sense


[Having mentioned the incidence of disease above, I would like to

put in here a word on the use of Yadil as an excellent preventive and

cure for epidemic diseases. I fly to it immediately I have a bird

at all “ soft ” and this and warmth generally affect a cure. The

rest of its aviary-mates also get a small dose (about five drops to a

teacupful of water) as a preventive.]


My own idea of the complement for a medium-sized aviary, carefully

assorted so that no pugnacious inmates are included, is some three

or four pairs in a 20 by 6 ft. aviary. With a pair of small doves

(Diamond Doves are of course ideal) and a pair of Chinese Painted

Quail, there is enough to satisfy any one. I am not implying that

aviaries ought to be of that size ; smaller ones with fewer breeding

pairs can be just as good ; as can large cages with single pairs, but

only provided the owner brings to the birds all that they would get

if in a garden aviary—and this involves a lot of time and work—abundant

supplies of seeding grass, seeding chickweed, and, for the first few days

after the young hatch, live insect food. These are all necessary to

make up for the lack of foraging space.


I have bred Zebra Finches in a large cage, producing eighteen

really fine young ones in one season from one pair, and destroying

one clutch of eggs. Every single bird was a full-sized tight feathered

specimen, always as fit as a fiddle. I refer to this because I have

mentioned 20 ft. aviaries, and I do not want to give the impression

that in my opinion this size is necessary, if the regime is adjusted

accordingly. Zebra Finches and Long-tailed Grassfinches search

eagerly for insect life when the nestlings are only a few days old ; they

can be seen imitating fly-catchers on the wing snapping up gnats



