Aviary

“ For aviaries, I like them not, except they be of that largeness as they may be turfed, and have living plants and bushes set in them; that the birds may have more scope, and natural nestling, and that no foulness appear in the floor of the aviary. ”

“ I heard the male of this bird, in the aviary, utter a very sweet, mild, and harmonious, whistling note, as it strutted about proudly, arrayed in its elegant plumage; occasionally approaching near the wires of its habitation, to let the visitors notice and admire him. The ends of the longest feathers of the tail in the living specimen were broken, although in this place of confinement there is much extent for his movements; but the feathers are too long ever to expect them to be preserved perfect in any confined place. ”

“ It is a pity that more of our country residents have not the idea of an aviary. It is so very pretty—an abiding-place of beauty, love, song, and happiness. Surely it does not cost so much as a greenhouse. ”

“ If you have any gold and silver pheasants, or other curious birds that you do not like to trust wild in the park, you will perhaps find it advantageous to have an aviary; of which there are two kinds. Small aviaries are, in fact, but birdcages on a large scale, divided into compartments to suit the nature of the birds that are to be confined in them; while a large aviary is only a superior kind of poultry-yard covered in with wire network to prevent the birds from escaping. ”

“ The keeping of birds in aviaries is therefore a practice worthy of every encouragement, so long as the aviaries are of sufficient size and suitable design to allow of the birds exhibiting their natural habits; for in a large aviary they will reveal the secrets of their nature as they never would do in a cage or small aviary. ”

“ The outer part of the aviary should be turfed and planted with evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and be provided with some means of supplying an abundance of pure water for the birds to drink and bathe in; a gravel path should not be forgotten. ”

“ An aviary should always be built with a southern or south-eastern aspect, and, where possible, should be sheltered from the north, north-east and north-west by a belt of fir-trees, high wall or bank, to protect the birds from the biting winds from these quarters. ”

“ Here they can wash themselves every morning, and they appear always eager to perform their matinal ablutions; their unsullied plumage, the song or twitter of delight with which they reward their benefactor, show how happy and contented they are in their confinement.
In the aviary are separate cages, erected for the purpose of inclosing such of the males of any of the species, as may have their combative organs in too high a degree of excitement ”

“ Much care is required when the aviary is painted, to prevent the birds being injured, not alone from their pecking it, but, from getting the paint upon their feathers, as they eat it when cleaning their soiled plumage; the aviary is therefore painted as seldom as possible, and, when done, the interior of the painted part is lined with mats, until thoroughly dry.
The gardens around the dwelling-house display the taste of Mr. Beale, (in spite of the frequent destructive effects of the typhoons,) in arrangement, as well as choice of rare and valuable productions of the vegetable kingdom. ”

“ In this time of ardent enterprise the top of the aviary or the cages should be covered with dark cloth, and the poor things shut out from the light.
A much cheaper aviary is built in the form of a large cage on the top of a tree, with open exit and entrances, fitted up with every convenience of bird-furnishing, and visited twice a day by the boys of the family. Here many birds come to lodge and get tamed, as the Indian does by having a house and garden, and often one pair of birds comes back several times. ”

“ Although originally designed for the reception of rare and curious birds presented to the Queen, the aviary has for many years past been mainly used as a miniature poultry farm. Now and again may arrive some showy feathered biped from foreign lands to lead a quiet happy life, well tended and cared for; but in the main ducks and chickens, turkeys and pigeons form the bulk of the population. ”

“ My aviary is out in the grounds of our home. It is built almost entirely of wire, protected only on the north and west by an open shed, under which the birds sleep, build their nests and gather during the rains which we occasionally have throughout the winter months. The building is forty feet long, twenty feet wide, and at the center of the arch is seventeen feet high. Running water trickles over rocks, affording the birds the opportunity of bathing as they desire. There are forty-seven varieties of birds and about four hundred specimens. ”

“ The aviary, which elsewhere is filled with gold pheasants and other foreign birds, was here more usefully tenanted; and was exclusively devoted to cocks and hens, geese, ducks, peacocks, and pigeons. It was however, from its extraordinary cleanliness and nice adaptation, a very pretty and agreeable sight. German housewives, listen and wonder! Twice a-day are the yards, which are provided with the most beautiful receptacles of water,—the separate houses, pigeon-holes, &c.,—twice a-day are they cleaned: the straw nests of the hens were so pretty ”

“ At times the male will chase the female all over the aviary, then go to the bower, pick up a gay feather or a large leaf, utter a curious kind of note, set all his feathers erect, run round the bower, and become so excited that his eyes appear ready to start from his head, [62] and he continues opening first one wing and then the other, uttering a low whistling-note, and seeming to pick up something from the ground, until at last the female goes gently towards him, when, after two turns round her, he suddenly makes a dash, and the scene ends. ”

“ But if left alone, it will probably be too much astonished at the novelty of its freedom to think of flying at first farther than the nearest thick shrub. So, having noticed where it has flown to, we must fetch the trap-cage without losing a moment, put in a hen from the aviary as call-bird, a few grains of hemp as bait, stand the cage on a box, or anything else, close to the bush, and watch from some point out of sight. ”

“ The story of my aviary and the pets in it is taken from my diaries, and many of the birds are still living and moving and having their being, and are always glad to see any girls and boys who call on them, if they do not come in too great numbers at one time. ”

“ We next come to a really imposing and lofty bird-of-prey aviary of very large proportions, and then to the bear castle, with ivy running all over it. In a neighbouring tank are some green cormorants, perched on little rocks. Close by is a large enclosure for storks, cranes, stilts, gulls, herons, and flamingoes.
The herons here, contrary to their usual habit, build their nests on the ground and rear young ones every year. These birds are allowed full liberty, for their wings are never cut, but they are, in spite of this, very punctual to meals. ”

“ I have seen the American Blue-bird, the English Starling, the Robin, Redstart, and many other insectivorous birds swallow quantities of seed, and benefit greatly in consequence. When finches are breeding, soft food in the aviary becomes a necessity for most of them, and the pan put in for the insectivorous birds is largely resorted to. I have reared many broods of Java Sparrows, Saffron-finches, Zebra-finches, Ribbon-finches, and even a Rosa's Parrakeet, all of which were fed by their parents upon regurgitated food put into the aviaries for my insectivorous birds. ”

“ Thus numerous ornithologists, not only throughout the United Kingdom, but also on the Continent, add annually to our knowledge of birds by means of observations on aviary specimens; reptiles and fish are now frequently exhibited, thriving amongst appropriate surroundings ”

“ They readily become domesticated, and, indeed, so very gentle are they that I have seen a pair that have been caught at the time when their young ones were quite small, and placed in an aviary, at once cover their little ones, and continue to nourish them until full grown. ”

“ The paramount importance of these considerations in explaining the immense amount of variation which pigeons have undergone, will likewise be obvious when we treat of selection. We shall then, also, see how it is that the several breeds so often have a somewhat monstrous character. It is also a most favourable circumstance for the production of distinct breeds, that male and female pigeons can be easily mated for life; and thus different breeds can be kept together in the same aviary. ”

“ Each pen has its own aviary, 10 feet by 20 feet, for the pigeons to exercise. The pigeons nest and raise their young inside, but bathe and exercise outside, where they have running water. Each pen accommodates 50 pairs of pigeons, so the plant capacity is over 8,000 birds. ”

“ The majority of wild birds, from whatever part of the world they may come, will breed successfully in suitable aviaries providing proper nesting sites are available. Large bundles of brushwood, fixed up in sheltered spots, will afford accommodation for many kinds of birds, while some will readily build in evergreen shrubs if these are grown in their enclosure. Small boxes and baskets, securely fastened to the wall or roof of the sheltered part of an aviary, will be appropriated by such species as naturally build in holes and crevices. ”

“ One might have supposed one's self at an opera in listening to the voices in my aviary. There were duets and trios, and quartetts and choruses, all arranged as in one piece of music. Did I want silence from the birds? I had but to draw a curtain over the aviary, and their song hushed as they found themselves left in the dark. ”

“ Their gauzy skirts had brushed up from the grass innumerable flies and butterflies which, unable to escape, remained caged in the transparent tissue as in an aviary. ”

“ The whish of a duck's wings can be heard two or three hundred yards on a still night. The wings of an eagle rustle like silk in the wind as he mounts upward. A sparrow's wings flutter or whir as he changes his flight. Every one knows the startled rush of a quail or grouse. But no ear ever heard the passing of a great owl, spreading his five-foot wings in rapid flight.
He knows well, however, when to vary his program. Once I saw him hovering at dusk over some wild land covered with bushes and dead grass, a favorite winter haunt of meadow-larks. ”

“ It is a nimble active bird, constantly running about on the open plains and ploughed fields in search of food, which consists of insects of various kinds, green corn and leaves of vegetables, small berries, etc.; or in flying hither and thither in the air, now close to the ground as if about to settle, and then with a sudden upward wheel urging a strong and swift flight to some distant part of the field, or sea shore, which is a favourite resort in winter, where the birds collect in large flocks, uttering their wild shrill whistle, which harmonizes well with the sounds of the winds and waves. ”

“ The habit of keeping birds in aviaries, as we understand the term, for the sake of the pleasure they afford their owners and for studying their habits is, however, of comparatively recent date. The beginning of geographical research in the 15th century brought with it the desire to keep and study at home some of the beautiful forms of bird-life which the explorers came across, and hence it became the custom to erect aviaries for the reception of these creatures. ”

“ At the same time were we to review the birds in detail, as we have done the mammals, you would see that there are almost more modifications to be observed in this one single instrument than in our thirty-two teeth. All birds have a beak, but each has his own, organized expressly with reference to the kind of food needed by its owner. The eagle's beak, which mangles living prey, is pointed, bent, and hard as steel; the bill of the duck, which laps up water from ponds and puddles, in order to get worms and half-decomposed refuse out of it, is soft, and flattened like a shovel. ”

“ The habits in confinement, however, make it somewhat doubtful whether the bird is as nocturnal as is asserted, for in the daytime it is quick and lively in its motions, chasing its fellow-captives, dancing round with the tip of its outspread wing or tail held fast in its bill, tossing about dry leaves or pieces of paper, spreading out its wings and thrusting its beak into the ground, kicking with its legs, and finally tumbling about as if in a fit. ”

“ The want of exercise apparently tends to reduce the size of the feet and organs of flight; and then, from the law of correlation of growth, the beak apparently becomes affected. From what we now see occasionally taking place in our aviaries, we may conclude that sudden variations or sports, such as the appearance of a crest of feathers on the head, of feathered feet, of a new shade of colour, of an additional feather in the tail or wing, would occur at rare intervals during the many centuries which have elapsed since the pigeon was first domesticated. ”

“ This holds good of a considerable number of species, studied with special reference to their flight, as the robin, the wood-thrush, cedar-bird, cat-bird, pewee, and indigo-bird.
It is doubtful if young birds, while yet in their nests, are conscious of the use to be made of their wings. After long-continued experimenting, I find they make no use of them, in endeavoring to escape, but trust to their legs entirely, if removed from the nest, or defend themselves by pecking at the intruder. ”