169 



"MEATING OFF" 

 AND FEEDING SOFT-BILLS. 



By John Frostick. 

 [Continued from page 14"]). 



"MEATING OFF" successfully. What a terrifying 

 effect the words " nieatiug off" have on the young 

 fancier ! and how wise the old 'uns look when discussing 

 this or that phase of the subject, and how jealously they 

 guard what they think is the secret of the trick ; yet, 

 after all, there is no secret at all, nothing to be found 

 out that could not be learned by anyone with the 

 exercise of a little common sense and reasoning. 



There is one w^ay, and one way only, to reconcile 

 a bird to the loss of his freedom, and induce him 

 to partake of the food which we intend to provide him 

 with for the rest of his natural life. A Nightingale, 

 for example, suddenly taken from his natural surround- 

 ings, where nearly all his food consists of creeping or 

 winged live insects, ought not to be expected to recognize 

 instantly the fact that an inert mass of dried ants' eggs, 

 hard boiled egg, bread, and grated carrot, is a capital and 

 wholesome substitute for the green caterpillars, live ants 

 and other insects that have formed his sole diet since he 

 was hatched. Therefore, if we bear this in mind, we 

 shall not go far astra}^ For the first few days, or in 

 some cases it may be weeks, our little prisoner will eat 

 nothing but i^iviNG food, and don't forget it! This 

 may take the form of mealworms, of which it will con- 

 sume up to 50 per day. Three Nightingales, meated off 

 last year, ate 1,500 in ten days, and I did not grudge 

 iheni one — all made fine birds. 



From the first day ants' eggs and egg should be 

 given with the worms, and after the first day it is a good 

 plan to cut some of the worms in halves, so that portions 

 of the "dead" food get eaten with the live, and in this 

 way, l)y gradually reducing the latter to a reasonable 

 quantity, we get them on to the artificial food, and they 

 are then what is called " meated off." The old wheeze 



