THERE’S A SCENE in My Family And Other Animals where the boy Gerald Durrell eavesdrops on his family as they discuss how to educate him. Novelist brother Larry prescribes a heavy literary reading list; his sensitive sister urges dancing lessons;…
WHAT A BREATH of fresh air to read Mr Cutter’s letter and the news story on page 2 (April 24 issue). It’s very early days, of course, but if all goes well then we might have a double dose of…
A TRUE HOBBYIST dynasty is a rarity: a succession of generations where both knowledge and passion have been handed on and expressed. Two generations of transmitted enthusiasm, from parent to offspring, are frequent, but three or more are far scarcer,…
HOW CONCERNED SHOULD fanciers be about the Scottish Government’s plan to revamp its animal welfare law? Donald Skinner-Reid gives his reaction to this ongoing consultation on page 10 and singles out some proposals that we may find sinister, notably (1)…
IT’S SPRINGTIME, SO Cage & Aviary Birds has migrated! For ages, we have been happily roosting in rural Kent, at the romantic if sometimes inconvenient Cudham Tithe Barn (pros: superb chalk valley on our doorstep; cons: winter ice-ups, mobile telephony…
WHY DO THEY do it? I’m not talking about parrots screaming (see our cover story on page 14 of the March 20 issue), but about birdkeeping organisations mucking their members about. In the February 13 issue, Italian canary man Antonio…
WAS IT REALLY Dorothy L. Sayers who coined the famous advertising slogan “Guinness is good for you”? David Alderton (see page 12, March 13, writing mainly about toucans) is such a fount of information. I once read her crime novel…
REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR JARROD cotter must, I feel, enjoy compiling his monthly “Feather by Feather” article for Cage & Aviary Birds. It is quite a challenge to depict those intricate individual feathers on the page to show clearly how they constitute…
FULL MARKS TO Andy Early for asking the key question: “Are you going to tell us how you did it?” The interviewee (see page 12) is Dutch canary breeder Piet Renders, and “it” refers to the original choice of pairing…
THIS WEEK WE’VE prominently featured an article from the RSPB about the swift – just about the most non-cage-bird you can imagine. Why? Because I reckon fanciers will appreciate these charismatic birds and are in a special position to help…