Edward Boosey—Gentlemen only



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birds in a comparatively large space will be bardly ever seen, giving

the aviary a deserted appearance, which is just what I wanted to

avoid.


As far as breeding goes my whole time is spent endeavouring to

build up breeding stocks of the rarer Australian Parrakeets, and to save

the rarest of them from the early extinction to which they seemed

doomed in a wild state.


I therefore wanted to make my planted aviary purely a source of

relaxation to its owner, unmixed with the anxiety which always accom¬

panies breeding operations, and which in my case would have been

doubled, as I should not have had the time to provide sufficient live

insects for the young of the insectivorous species I had decided

to keep.


The obvious thing was an aviary of bachelors, and this is proving

a great success.


The aviary itself is about 35 feet long by 20 feet wide by 9 feet high,

constructed of natural larch poles, with, at one end, a shelter shed

entirely hidden by a surrounding thicket. The flight was built to

enclose part of a lawn and the end of a dense hedge of snowberry which

was thinned out to form two or three thick bushes. It also contains

rambling roses, jasmine, and honeysuckle climbing up the supporting

pillars.


The aviary is close to a lily pool and abuts on to a lawn where we

have tea in summer.


When the first of our yearly consignments of insectivorous birds

arrived here in the spring, I decided to pick out anything that particu¬

larly appealed to me from the point of view of colour or song—or

preferably both.


The first occupant of the aviary was a Virginian Cardinal, which

I think must have hailed from Mexico as he was rather slim for a Cardinal

and of the most amazingly brilliant scarlet, being far and away the

best of a particularly well-coloured batch of these birds.


He was turned into the aviary about the middle of April and at

once started to sing. His song is what one might describe as “ quite

pleasing 5 ’, though it in no way justifies his alternative name of Virginian

Nightingale, since it entirely lacks the uniquely mysterious quality



