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a Lark, will adopt young birds of similar habits and 

 rear them in a cage, but it is not always possible to 

 obtain such a foster mother, and it is better to rely 

 upon one's own efforts with the tweezers and the dried 

 ants' eggs. 



Three or four times a day a mouthful of eggs may 

 be dipped in water for a moment before being supplied 

 to the nestlings, which is better than damping all the 

 food at once, a proceeding which is apt to deprive it 

 of some portion of its nourishing qualities. In a week 

 or ten days the young Nightingales will begin to feed 

 themselves, and will then require very little more than 

 the ants' eggs for their sustenance; water of course 

 should then be allowed them, and they are very fond 

 of bathing. 



They are best kept in a long low cage wired only 

 in front, the top being lined with some soft material 

 or padding, and wnth a screen over one portion of it 

 that they may have a dark corner to retire to if 

 alarmed. Generally after they have begun to feed 

 themselves they are rather wild, but that soon passes 

 off, and they become quite familiar and even bold,, 

 readily taking mealworms from the fingers and flying 

 about the room, instantly returning to the cage when a 

 mealworm is thrown into it. Until after the first 

 moult a young Nightingale is speckled all over very 

 much like a young Robin ; from which however it can 

 be distinguished by the reddish brown colour of the 

 tail coverts and upper part of the tail. 



As Nightingales migrate to warm countries in the 

 winter, and are somewhat impatient of cold, care must 

 be taken that the temperature is not allowed to fall too 

 low in the room or aviary where they are kept. 



