A Monster Aviary

A Monster Aviary.

Something About the Largest Bird Cage That Has Ever Been Built.

California may well boast of its big trees, its waterfalls of the Yosemite and its mammoth fruit and vegetable products, but it has added another laurel to its crown in the possession of the largest aviary in the world. An hour's journey from San Francisco by water and rail brings one to the quiet little town of San Pablo, in Contra Costa county, and a short drive from there is the old and well known Alvarado Rancho, now owned by Henry F. Emeric. Over an area of 2,500 acres of fertile ground are scattered orchards and wheat fields that yield wonderful crops, and near the center of this domain is the old home of Mr. Emeric's father, now deceased.

It is a quaint structure, with shaded verandas, and its roof is robed with a mantle of pure white Castilian roses. Fronting the house are parterres of choice flowers of innumerable kinds, bright with color and as fragrant as the breeze wafted odors of Ceylon. There are, in fact, 310 varieties of roses alone to be seen, and in the conservatory there are rare orchids and other valuable plants.

Through the vista of weeping willows and peach and apple trees, heavily laden with Bellflowers and Winter Nellies, the aviary is seen. This feature of the place is an airy structure of closely netted wire, sustained at intervals of fifteen feet by wooden uprights, forming a perfect cage. It is 175 feet long and 60 feet wide. Within its confines is a miniature forest of quince trees, the tops of which emerge through the netting. This, in addition to a covert of thick brush, affords admirable shelter for the birds in summer, while in the winter they have the use of a large house that is in the cage for their protection against the elements. With cmmendable foresight Mr. Emeric has stocked this aviary with English pheasants and Chinese golden pheasants, and there are also hundreds of quail there, merely as a side issue.

Mr. Emeric estimates that he has over 400 pheasants, and he proposes to set loose 100 or more of them each year to run wild through the country, and will give many away to those who desire to propagate them. This will, of course, be of great benefit to all lovers of bird shooting, and besides will assist materially in increasing the number of what are now a rare species of fowl in this state. The pheasants are fed with wheat, and occasionally chopped liver is given to them. They are crossed with bantam hens, the result being game cocks that are as pugnacious as their imported sires; and the pheasant is notably a fighting bird. The golden pheasants are only fitted for an aviary, and occupy the position that a Sevres vase does in a drawing room.

Mr. Emeric has completed negotiations to have a large invoice of bobwhites sent to him from the east, and then he will increase the proportions of his aviary to three times its present size. This bird is similar to our California quail, only a little larger, and is better flavored. It is a great favorite with eastern hunters, and will be gladly welcomed by local sportsmen. The same course will be pursued with these birds as with the pheasants. The propagation of these valuable and interesting birds is a hobby with Mr. Emeric, an expensive one naturally, but one that he can afford, and his efforts should receive the earnest support of all those who are interested in the introduction of new birds on this coast.--San Francisco Chronicle.

Fighting the McKinley Bill.

St. Louis, Jan. 21.--Messrs. Rowel & Ferris, attorneys for Charles H. Wyman & Co., have filed an application in the United States circuit court to order the board of general appraisers at New York to produce their records for review. The action is in reality an attack upon the constitutionality of the McKinley bill, and is brought in the nature of an appeal from the decision of the general board of appraisers. The basis of the attack is the same as of those heretofore made--that the law is unconstitutional owing to the omission of the clause in the tobacco schedule.