of putting some iiiealwornis under a watch-glass, with 

 egg and ants' eggs smeared around it, with the idea of 

 getting the bird to eat the latter, while pecking at the 

 former, is a cruel senseless dodge, that will result very 

 quickly in the death of the bird ; for after bobbing a few 

 times at the glass, in his fruitless efforts to get at the 

 worms, he will speedily retire to a corner of the cage in 

 disgust, and very soon save you the trouble of providing 

 any more worms for him. 



Should a bird absolutely refuse to eat at all for the 

 first twent3--four hours after his capture (as some may, 

 especially if the}' have been long caught, without oppor- 

 tunity of feeding naturally), his life ma}' often be saved 

 by gentl}' cramming him with mealworms cut in halves, 

 pushed carefully down his throat with the aid of a match 

 stick, two or three at a time, at intervals of half au hour. 

 A few drops of warm milk poured down his throat, will 

 help to revive him. He should be carefully watched 

 until he has taken food of his own accord, then the 

 cramming may cease, and all will be well. 



The smaller soft-billed birds, from a Nightingale 

 downwards in size, quickly become tame and used to 

 cage life, and may, in fact, be shown very soon after 

 capture, if properly treated from the beginning. But, of 

 course, they are ver}' wild at fiist, and must not on 

 any account be placed in an ordinary cage, unless the 

 front is wholly covered with muslin or butter-cloth, so 

 that they may have sufficient light onl}' to feed by, but 

 may not themselves be seen. The}- will then gradually 

 get accustomed to their sunoundings, and not dash 

 about and spoil their feathers. To prevent this, some 

 tie the tips of each wing, separately, with string : in 

 which case you will not be able to show the bird until 

 lie has moulted, beside which it is unnecessarih- cruel. 



In my own case, I keep one or two cages especially 

 for meating off fresh birds. They are the ordinary 

 French travelling boxes, that dealers receive vsmall 

 foreign birds in from the Continent, and with a few 



