125 



Banana meal is considered a useful food for 

 Tanagers, and I have been told that it is almost 

 essential for keeping Fruit- Pigeons in health. But I 

 cannot say that I have found it altogether satisfactory. 

 I think powdered dog-biscuit, slightly-damped with 

 boiling water, forms a good basis for a food for 

 Tanagers, and to this should be added (before the 

 moistening) some of the insectile mixture mentioned 

 below. 



VI. INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



There are few points of aviculture upon which so 

 much difference of opinion and practice exists as upon 

 the question of what is the best food for these birds. 

 All are agreed that ants' eggs should form one of the 

 chief ingredients, but that is the only point upon which 

 agreement exists. For some years I used a mixture 

 of ants' eggs, dried flies, fine crissel, and Spratt's fine 

 Game Meal. Afterwards I discontinued the Game 

 Meal, and substituted crumbled Colifichct for it. I am, 

 however, now convinced that the use of crissel for 

 the more delicate species is a mistake, and should 

 advise a simple mixture of ants' eggs, dried flies, and 

 either crushed biscuit or Colifichet, in preference to the 

 formula mentioned above. 



There is, however, a food extensively used on the 

 continent (though hitherto almost unknown in^ 

 Kngland), which in my opinion ranks next in value to 

 ants' eggs and dried flies, and in combination with, 

 them forms what is. in the present state of our know- 

 ledge, the best food. This is the dried and powdered 

 pupse of the silkworm moth — a waste product which 

 can be bought in bulk at a very cheap rate in silk 

 growing countries. In a recent article, the Rev. C. D. 

 Farrar refers to a food " like linseed meal " which was 

 recommended to him by a German : this was no doubt 

 simply silkworm. Unfortunately this food cannot, so 

 far as I know, be bought in this country, A year or 

 two ago a dealer in I,iverpool supplied it under the mis- 



