15 



Some people have emphatically denied the utility of 

 this. I do not know that I, or anj' one else, ever asserted 

 it to be essential to the life or well-being of the birds — 

 but I do assert it to be an aid in keeping them in health 

 through the winter. My usual plan is to turn on an 

 incandescent gas-light in the bird room for a quarter-of- 

 an-hour or so about nine o'clock. When I turn it out I 

 leave a smaller light burning for a time, to enable the 

 birds to find their perches. 



In the feeding of soft-billed birds, I really think the 

 consistency of the food is quite as important as the 

 materials of which it is composed. Birds will not thrive 

 on a pasty mess, however rich it may be in ants' eggs 

 and other good things. I believe this is the reason win- 

 birds often thrive better on one of the advertised foods 

 sold in tins tlian they do on home-made food, although 

 the bought food may contain a large proportion of German 

 paste, crushed hemp, and other things of more than 

 doubtful digestibility. It is never wise to moisten food 

 by the addition of water, as one is so very apt to make it 

 too wet. It is far better to soften it by the addition of 

 boiled potato or grated carrot — though I much prefer 

 lard or dripping for the purpose. If you use potato or 

 carrot, you must be careful to throw away the leavings 

 from the previous days feeding, and put the fresh food 

 in a clean pan. But the food mixed with grease will 

 keep good for weeks. 



Some people imagine that if a bird be fat it must be 

 in good health, and that the fitness is proof its having 

 been fed on suitable food. Fatness is no more a sign of 

 health in a bird than in a man — and our aim should be to 

 keep our birds in good condition but not fat. A fat bird 

 is seldom healthy, and always liable to go oif in a fit. In 

 the case of soft-billed birds, excessive fatness is often 

 caused by feeding on bread and other farinaceous food. 



Horatio R. Fii^lmer. 



