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praise " which is proverbaily " no recoinineiulation." 

 We will therefore merely express the hope that Mr. 

 Frostick will continue to draw upon his store of know- 

 ledge for the benefit of our readers. 



We understand that Mr. Frostick purposely refrained 

 from mentioning any special advertised food for birds, 

 and we appreciate his reasons. But this restriction has, 

 we think, compelled him to omit some common objects 

 of the bird room larder which could not be dispensed 

 with without serious inconvenience. Spratt's " Crissell " 

 is a case in point. This the writer has found invaluable. 

 " Colifichet" is another omission, not attributable to the 

 same motive. This is better than ordinary bread, being- 

 less fattening and more digestible. We have found a 

 mixture of ants' eggs, crissel, colifichet, and preserved 

 yolk of egg, an excellent food for soft-bills — better for 

 most species than plain ants' eggs — and certainly much 

 cheaper. H. R. F. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IIvIv-FATED ALBINOvS. 



Sir, — The old saying that a little knowledge is 

 dangerous has been again fully justified in connection 

 with bird life— which the following little incident will 

 show. 



Recently two boys called upon a friend of mine, and 

 producing a couple of young birds, asked " What birds 

 are these ? " My friend looked at them, and put on 

 his considering cap— they were like young Robins, he 

 thought, one was pure white and the other a creamy 

 white : they v/ere sniall insectivorous birds he was sure, 

 but what were they .'' " Did you see any more about ? " 

 he asked. "Yes," said the boys, " two others like young 

 Robins, speckled with white : the four flew out of the nest 

 and we caught these two." " I've got it," said my friend, 

 '* they ate young Robins." Before he could ask any more 

 questions the boys had vanished up the street. The 

 next day he saw one of the boys again, and asked what 



