a wholesome diet, or one conducive to good days and 

 length of life. On the same principle, a bird may- 

 exist on pea-meal, but, like Jacob, few and evil will 

 be the days of his pilgrimage and he will not attain 

 to the age of his fathers. 



I at once prescribed a diet of maggots — " quantum 

 sufficit," as the doctors say on their medicine bottles. 

 This is rather a tall order, by the way, as a Wagtail's 

 appetite is " that hearty ! " Still, when I find a poor 

 half-starved bird I do not like to stint him, but, for a 

 time at any rate, let him eat his fill ; just as they allow 

 little boys, apprenticed to pastry cooks, to stuff down 

 as many jam tarts as they like at first. In that case 

 there soon comes plethora. With the Wagtail, I fear 

 the appetite for maggots " grows," as Shakspeare hath 

 it, " with that it feeds on." 



Though very nice in their persons, and not liking 

 to come in contact with anything impure, they do 

 enjoy the indirect benefit that sometimes comes from 

 it. 



I once tried to breed maggots at home, to 

 encourage *' home industries." It did not work at all. 

 In the same way, when a boy, I used to keep white 

 mice. I simply adored them. The rest of the family 

 alluded to my adored ones in no measured language 

 and in the rudest way as " stinking little beasts." I 

 went so far as to sprinkle them with eau de Cologne. 

 Even this did not satisfy. They could stand one 

 odour, they told me, but both together were out of all 

 reason. Alas, it was the same with " home-fed " 

 maggots of a later da}'. The sanitary inspector 

 threatened to indict me as a nuisance, and so reluc- 

 tantly put me to the expense of buying instead of 

 growing. 



It is very pretty to see how the little hen flies 

 down to meet me each morning as I go in with a 

 handful of maggots. The moment I throw them 



