2223. The aviary was common to the country-houses of the Romans, but used principally, as it would appear from Pliny, for birds destined to be eaten. Singing birds, however, were kept by the Persians, Greeks, and also the Romans, in wicker cages; and these utensils, no doubt, gave rise to the large and fixed cage called an aviary; but in what country, and in what age, appears uncertain. Aviaries are highly prized in China, and seem there to confer about a similar degree of dignity to a house and family as does a large conservatory in this country; for in the altercations which took place during Lord Amherst's embassy, it was stated, on the part of the emperor, that Sir George Staunton had profited greatly from China, and had built himself a house and an aviary. That they were in use in England in Evelyn's time, it is evident from a memorandum entered in his Diary, that the Marquess of Argyle took the parrots in his aviary at Sayes' Court for owls.
