182 P. W. Teague—Experiences in Removal and Feeding Methods


interesting to note the old pair produced one or two nests of young

every year. This removes the only imported birds I had in my stud of

forty Gouldians, which now comprises five generations of English

bred stock. Almost all these birds were in ordinary wooden houses

throughout this awful winter, only aided by a hurricane lantern for

night feeding. It speaks well for their stamina, considering we are

living at an altitiude of 850 feet. Another point worth mentioning

is that I have bred them year after year in the same aviaries, and the

last two generations certainly appear larger and stronger than any

I have previously reared. This improvement, I believe is due in some

measure to the use of Iodised Mineral Salts, but before describing these

salts I should like to mention the results of the continued use of clean

gritty sea sand. Possibly some of our members will remember a letter

I wrote about a year ago on the danger of dusty sand in aviaries. By

substituting clean sea sand for the ordinary dusty sand, I have only

had one case of pneumonia during the last three years, and this was

a bird I had exchanged. The use of this clean sand has practically

eliminated dust, which I have concluded was one of the chief causes

of this dreaded disease.


Now to return to the successful experiment of the Iodised Mineral

Salts for aviary birds. I have repeatedly been asked what made me

try these mineral salts. It has been a practice of mine closely to watch

and observe my birds in an endeavour to find out “ that something ”

which so many of our aviary birds seem to be looking for. Asking

myself what makes birds eat cuttlefish bone, or rub their beaks down

crude rock salt, or why do many birds actually eat soil, and why does

a sick bird often go to the seed hoppers, look at the seed, and then hop

round the aviary still looking for “ that something ” it cannot find ?

One day when making a purchase at a corn merchants. I happened to

see a leaflet recommending the use of Iodised Mineral Salts for poultry.

There and then I decided to find out the contents of these salts. This

obtained, I decided to try a small dish of the dry mixture on an aviary

of mixed birds. It had not been there long before I noticed it had been

sampled. I removed it for a couple of days and then watched which

birds ate it. To my surprise, I saw the following birds take small

quantities, Gouldians, Ruficaudas, Bichenos, Masked Grassfinches, and



