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E. W. Chaplin—Avicultural Recollections



rats found their way in and I then put a new lot of wire going further

down. It is so long ago that I am not quite sure of the depth, but

I think that it was 3 ft. wire cut in half longitudinally, and buried

with the rough edge at the bottom and turned slightly upwards. That

was over forty years ago, and I do not think that I have had a rat

in an aviary since. Mice were a nuisance until I took to feeding the

birds on tables with one central leg. After a time the little sons of

Satan used to climb along the woodwork and drop on the tables from

above. A disc of tin hung by a string through its centre above the

table put a stop to this little game.


The aviary was boarded all round to the height of about 2 feet

to prevent the birds being frightened by passing dogs. About one-

third of the structure was boarded at the sides and top and the

remainder wired in a similar way. There was at first no division between

the boarded part and the flight but later I filled in with boards the

upper part (the inverted V of the roof). The lower part was left open.


Some time after I had started with the Pheasants, I put in a pair

of Cockateels, and, later, a pair of Virginian Nightingales. Both of

these lived for many years and both nested regularly. The former

reared their young but the latter always deserted theirs when about

ten days old. The Virginian Nightingales had a very attractive song,

some of their notes being so exactly like those of our own Nightingale

that visitors often came in with tales of having heard a Nightingale

at some quite impossible time of the year.


I later built a similar aviary in line with, but about three feet from,

the end of the first. In this I kept Amherst Pheasants and a pair

of Rosellas. This aviary also was open in the same way as the other.

I had the Bosellas for four or five years. One year they sat and fully

reared two fine, healthy young ones. I now think that the reason

that I did not have better results with breeding was that I only gave

them home-made wooden boxes to nest in. I used to put a little soft

touchwood in the bottoms of the boxes. Frequently, even in the

winter, they would, instead of perching, cling side by side to the wire

netting in the open run. Although sometimes I could hardly sleep

for thinking of them they never seemed any the worse for the night out.

I reared many young Pheasants of both varieties, using feather-legged



