Requirements of a good Parrot Cage - Square Cages - Cage of the Ornis Society of Berlin - Perches - Ornamental Cages - Open Stands - Chain and Leg Ring.

The choice of a cage is important for any bird, but it is much more so for the members of the parrot family than for those of any other kind. This result of my experience, which I have already noticed in my work, "The Foreign Cage Birds," vol. iv. (Manual for the Management, Training, and Breeding of Cage Birds), I must here emphatically repeat, for it is especially of consequence for those parrots which are kept as speakers.

Even fully acclimatised, well trained, and excellent speakers, get out of sorts, excited, and even ill, if obliged to change the habitation, and if the new one is not perfectly satisfactory. A newly-acquired parrot, again, needs a much longer time to settle down, and is much more difficult to tame and teach, if not provided from the commencement with a thoroughly comfortable cage.

A good parrot cage should fulfil the following requirements : 1. It must afford abundant space for the bird to have the necessary motion (this will be discussed more fully later on). 2. The best shape is a simple square, slightly vaulted at the top, without any projections, curves, flourishes, or such like decorations. 3. The cage for every parrot, but especially for every large parrot, should be entirely of metal.

The most ordinary form of cage for single speakers is the simple square, not even vaulted at the top, and only slightly rounded at the sides, made of strong tinned iron wire; mostly with wooden socles, and over the floor, at about an equal level with the socle, a grating also of strong wire. This cage has many defects. First, it is, as a rule, too small; then the food and drinking vessels must be hooked inside, which, in the ease of a parrot given to biting, is very dangerous; finally, the wire grating and socle, together with the drawers (both the latter being usually of wood), are worse than useless. The "Ornis" Society of Bird Fanciers, in Berlin, had cages made for the accommodation of the parrots at its exhibition, which I may recommend as model cages (Fig. 1). Such a cage gives abundant room for movement. for it is 2 1/2ft. high, and always 17in. in length and breadth for the Grey Parrots, the Amazons, Cockatoos, and all parrots of similar size; while for the larger species, up to the Macaws, it must naturally be increased proportionately in size; and for the smaller down to the Brotogerys and Undulated Parrakeets, it must be made smaller. The upper part is made of strong tinned wire, 1/8-in. in diameter, and 1 1/4in. apart. The socle, drawers, and floor, are made of tinned iron plate; the latter-may consist, for greater convenience in cleaning, of a wire grating. The above-mentioned wire grating over the floor is abolished, first of all because the bird may break its leg in it, also because the dirt gathers in it in an offensive way; but chiefly, because every parrot feels the need of stretching itself upon the ground, and bathing in the sand. The zinc drawer must also be easy to push in and out, so that the excretions may daily be scraped off, and the floor freshly strewed with dry, clean sand. These movable drawers must be fastened outside with holdfasts or strong hooks, so that the mischievous parrot cannot open them. The socle should always be of a good height, at least 2fin. broad, otherwise the parrot will make the room very dirty by scratching out sand, etc. The door must be wide enough to allow of the bird being taken in and out easily, about 6in. or 7in. in width. It is mostly constructed to fall down from above; but, as this is very inconvenient, it can also be made to open sideways; in any case, it must fasten securely with a long hook, or a spring holdfast. Almost every parrot, especially the larger ones, whether it be from weariness, wantonness, or mischief, employs itself busily in breaking off anything that is not firm and secure in the cage, and particularly in bursting the fastening of the door.

Fig. 1. - Cage of the Ornis Society of Berlin.

The perch needs much attention. In order that it may not be gnawed, it was formerly the custom to cover it with thin iron plate; this, however, caused the bird much suffering, for, in the first place, it soon became so smooth that the parrot could with difficulty keep its position, often fell down at night, and suffered much from the continual exertion of holding fast; secondly, it brought on corns and blisters to the feet by the pressure of the hard metal; and thirdly, being a good conductor of heat, it gave the bird cold in the feet and stomach, and thus caused disease. By a suitable arrangement there is now introduced, on each side of the cage, below the food and drinking vessels, an iron ring, or a socket of strong zinc, and in this the perch is firmly wedged. For the perch, a piece of fresh stick, of not too hard wood, with the bark on it, should be chosen, and, as soon as it has been gnawed, it can, without difficulty, be replaced by another. If a stick without bark should be chosen, it must not be too smooth, but somewhat rough. A practical arrangement has lately been adopted for the food and drinking vessels; an arched or hollow cover is soldered on, which encloses the food, so that the parrot cannot throw out and scatter the seed, etc, nor sprinkle the water about, as it can from the open vessels. These are pushed in, and, at the back of each, there is a wire grating, which prevents the bird escaping when the food and water are being changed. A perfectly satisfactory parrot cage should not be wanting in one particular which I consider most important, that is, a short comfortable perch in the upper part of the cage, to which the bird, when enjoying itself, can climb, on which it can sit comfortably and stretch out its wings. One unpleasant result of this is that it dirties the bars of the cage from this position; this must either be at once cleaned, or a convenient drawer, with sand to catch it, must be introduced below the high perch. The ordinary much-used swing in the cage is, in my opinion, not only superfluous, but even injurious, because it disturbs the comfort of the parrot and lessens the space necessary for it to stretch its wings.