Aviaries, or moderately large cages, ought to contain. suspended enamelled swings, one or two according to size, as they are a source of endless amusement to the birds.

Square perches hurt the bird's feet, the hard corners. being so sharp and cutting. I never use any but the slender, round, white deal of different sizes, as when all of the same size, cramp is occasioned; thus in a cage containing say, for instance, four perches, I should have at least two of them double as large as the others, neither however being precisely as wide to grasp as its fellow. When these are varnished they become sticky by friction, wearing away unevenly, producing splints which find their way into the bird's claws, causing lameness very troublesome to cure. Many persons approve of branches of fir, and so forth, in place of the ordinary simple rods with which cages are usually furnished; except for foreign birds perhaps, quite at first, I cannot say I think them in any way satisfactory, for the reason that they produce, or at all events harbour, red mites. A piece of a tree you cannot plunge into hot water without immediately spoiling it; and unless this be done at least once a week with a perch in constant use, it is impossible to preserve its wholesome purity, for rubbing or brushing alone merely removes superficial unsightliness, leaving the burning matter to blister the feet, still behind, and therefore the urgent necessity of the influence of water in the cleansing of every part of a bird's cage, most especially in reference to the perches, with which it is always, more or less, in direct and perpetual contact.

The remarks in favour of plain German enamelled metallic cages equally apply to breeding cages, whether single or double, than which nothing more absolutely perfect is left to desire. These should be at least two feet long, but the larger in size the healthier for the birds, as when hatching they are far the better for a good deal of exercise, both on their own account, as much as on that of the fledglings. The nest-boxes ought to be of enamelled wood, resembling the swings, not too large, and rather deep than wide. I may just state in passing that a cage made to order is in every respect as moderate (and even more so) in price, than those to be had ready waiting a purchaser. If procured from a firstclass wholesale house of business, you can receive them enamelled, finished, and fitted up, according to your own directions, as satisfactorily as when bought abroad; and when feasible it is by far the best plan always to have those you use made to suit your own peculiar convenience and requirements. The price of metallic cages, whether ordered or bought, ranges from 2s. 6d. to £10 and upwards, according to the sizes and shapes desired. People are often suprised at my universal. recommendation of the adoption of square, unornamented cages, longer considerably than broad, but I am sure, to an eye possessed of artistic taste, the severe simplicity of that style has only to be tried once to approve itself. First and foremost it serves to set off the bird in a manner none else ever do; then it is an admirable contrast to the ornament and fur

niture of a handsome sitting-room, let alone the advantage it is in every other respect to its occupant's own welfare, health, and happiness—after all, the consideration, par excellence, to the bona fide bird lover.

C

CHAPTER IV.

SITUATION AND FOOD VESSELS.

As regards the situation proper for a bird-cage, I must warn my readers of the cruelty of hanging a living bird against a "red-hot brick-wall," where a breath of refreshing air can never pass over it, and the sun's scorching rays beat down in pitiless fierceness, as if to burn up everything they strike. A bird is quite as capable of dying from sunstroke as man himself, and I know of no remedy that will touch this complaint: a few hours' suffering, and Dick spins round his home, and falls dead on the floor.

Sunlight is a great beautifier of a bird's plumage; the colour is materially affected by the amount it receives during the year; if daily placed full in its beams, particularly when moulting, the feathers become far brighter and more richly hued than when the bird's life is passed either in complete shadow or only in reflected light. In summer, high up in an open sunny window, safe from cats and out of draughts, where there is a cool breeze always flowing round him, that is when and where you will be regaled by his most melodious and loving strains

of gratitude. This situation is also the healthiest for a breeding cage; the mother bird will equally enjoy the cheering, refreshing, balmy breeze as it sweeps through the cage during the hot exhausting hours of a long summer's day. When out of the nest, stretching her poor little weary cramped legs, she will be revived and invigorated by the air and sunlight in the same spot where her devoted mate has so long sat in patient solitude, he meanwhile taking her place on the nest and preventing it becoming cold. In an open window with the door shut, during summer weather, there can be no draught, because by a draught is understood a rush or current of air. The heated wind floats idly in, keeps the atmosphere fresh, carries off all effluvia, and acts so calmly and gently that the cage itself is hardly swayed by it. Now in winter the case is reversed, the outer air being far colder than that in a room, there is a steady inward current or "draught" through every chink, cranny, and fastening, so that a window of all places in the world is then the worst for birds to live in. At night the freezing panes of glass radiate cold upon the motionless, sleeping balls of expanded feathers, and of course act most perniciously on the circulation; and at each hour during the twenty-four, if hung in a window, are the birds exposed, without chance of escape, to the northerly and easterly breezes pouring in through the sash, between the panes, everywhere, from the frost and chill out of doors. Therefore during this inclement season, the best site for a bird cage or aviary is the wall of a dwelling-room upon