' 41 



weight there is more tlian twice as much noiirisliment 

 in dried ants' eggs as in fresh. — Ed.] Of course these 

 so-called eggs are really the cocoon of the ant, and their 

 vitality is destroyed before they are imported, so that 

 it is no use for anyone to attempt to hatch them out 

 in a hot-bed, as one sagacious individual thought 

 might be possible, nor can the tiny red ants that 

 infest some houses, and these not always in the 

 country, be imagined to proceed from the same source, 

 as a correspondent of a weekly paper recently fancied, 

 was the case. 



To resume : — a Nightingale will keep in health for 

 twelve or fourteen years, and sing for a great part of 

 the year, if dieted on these foreign ants' eggs, three 

 or four mealworms a day, and any small insects that 

 can be captured in the garden, especially if he can 

 have a fly round a greenhouse for an hour or two 

 daily, where he will pick up many pests that have 

 baffled the sagacity of the owner to get rid of. 



He will do no perceptible damage to the plants, 

 and any marks he may leave behind him on the leaves 

 may easil}^ be washed away by the ordinary garden 

 syringe. 



While the bird is flying round the greenhouse the 

 windows should of course be closed, or better still, 

 protected by a netting of small enough mesh to pre- 

 vent the bird's escape. If the door of the cage be 

 left open the Nightingale will return to it when he 

 feels hungry or requires a drink, and a little ingenuity 

 will effect the closing of the door by means of a piece 

 of black thread fastened to it, which can be gently 

 pulled without alarming the bird. 



But someone may ask, if Nightingales are not to 



