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on, and the addition of a sprinkling of ants' eggs and 

 yolk of egg, it has a large sale as " Insectivorous Food," 

 but, whatever the formula, I have no hesitation in con- 

 demning the mixture as totally nnsuited for any kind of 

 cage bird. It is unnatural, and impossible to be digested 

 b}' any animal smaller than a pig, how much less so by 

 the delicate stomach of an insectivorous bird I will leave' 

 to your imagination, and although the larger birds will 

 exist on it for a time, they never really thrive, and if given 

 to such birds as Nightingales they would quickly make 

 up their minds that life under such conditions was not 

 worth living. Therefore I hope that all you who now 

 know better will have more consideration for your birds 

 welfare and happiness than ever to be guilty of using 

 German Paste in any shape or form. 



KINGFISHERS having been mentioned in the fore 

 part of this article it may be as well to say how they 

 may be fed and kept in confinement. Having read a most 

 interesting account by Mr. Chas. L. Rothera, of Notting- 

 ham, of his successful management of these beautiful 

 birds in captivity, I thirsted for more knowledge on the 

 subject, and in reply to my query he very kindly wrote 

 me the following instructive letter, which I think I 

 cannot do better than quote in extenso : — 



" In reply to your enquiry about Kingfishers, the 

 only practical difficulty in the way of keeping them is 

 to ensure a certain constant supply of fresh live fish. 

 The man who kept my stock supplied ultimately got 

 into gaol for poaching, and before I could make other 

 arrangements my bird died for want of food. I now 

 have a man ready at short notice to bring fish, but I 

 cannot get a bird. No doubt I shall be able to do so 

 when close time is over. I find it a great advantage to 

 have birds brought in as quickly as possible after 

 capture, while they are still strong and vigorous. Then, 

 if the floating fish bowl is well supplied, there is 

 little trouble in getting the birds to settle down to 

 feed. For a new bird I always put a shallow pie dish 

 in a back corner or shelf of the aviary away from the 



