175 



a parlous thing to depreciate the worth of common 

 things. When we find ourselves among the h)rds and 

 ladies, we cannot be expected to retain all our former 

 veneration for the squire and the clergyman." 



If only I do succeed in breeding them next year, 

 I shall be like Virgil's delightful old garden lover, of 

 whom he say.s, " He equalled in his contented mind 

 the wealth of kings." 



And now I think I had better draw to a close, for 

 I once saw an author described as one who keeps 

 awake in the small hours in order to procure sleep for 

 others ; and was it not the late Montague Williams 

 who gave it as his opinion that the longer a police- 

 man had been in the force the less you could believe 

 him ? Mutatis mutandis, some of you will be saying 

 the same unless I pull up. 



Ibow 3 tcci> mv> Bircts. 



By W. Geo. Creswei.1., M.D., F.Z.S. 



[HIS paper is not intended to be a treatise 

 on foods, nor yet an exposition of those 

 principles of physiological chemistry 

 which should guide us in the feeding of 

 our birds. I had indeed intended to re- 

 main silent on these matters until I was prepared to deal 

 with the subject with that fulness of detail which is 

 necessary to the treatment of so wide a question, but 

 since I get frequent enquiries as to substitutes for egg 

 food, it may be well to state briefly what the food 

 of my birds consists of, leaving all scientific con- 

 siderations to a future occasion. 



First of all I may say that when I tell a patient 

 that whiskey is the chief cause of his troubles I am 

 generally asked to recommend a substitute for it, in 

 the hope of course that I shall suggest gin or port. 



