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an iiicli thick which couUl be bent out of straiglit, but I have 

 not seen pebble or pure sand that wouhl absorb water better 

 than blotting paper, and I am not quite sure that sand is the 

 best thing for birds to be runniug on. I have heard of people 

 puttiug peas in their shoes when walking to a certain place. 

 [To walk with a few peas confiued in one's boot is hardly a 

 parallel to walking barefooted on thick yielding sand. — Ht>.~\ 



Feeding vessels : — Inside is the tidier, and the cage looks 

 best, and there is not the dirt and food thrown about ; aud for 

 soft food the open hopper is better than the covered glass; of 

 course the inside vessels must be so arranged that the food and 

 water cannot be fouled. 



The above subjects are of such importance that I would 

 respectfully ask you to put a note in Bijd Notes asking the 

 members to give their opinion as to the best kind of perches, 

 the covering for the bottom of cages, and the best place for the 

 food vessels. John Acutt. 



[I regret that I did not make the matter plain to Mr. Acutt, 

 and therefore insert his letter with pleasure. Mr. McDonagh, 

 who is a senior student of Medicine, has kindly written the 

 following, in the hope that Mr. Acutt may the more easily see 

 the physiological and pathological application of what I said 

 on this question, which, as Mr. Acutt rightly says, is one of 

 great importance to the poor little captive Wagtails.— Kd.]. 



Sir, — In reply to Mr. Acutt's queries re perches for Wag- 

 tails. These birds belong to the order " Passeriformes" or 

 perching birds; consequently the foot is specially made for 

 grasping ; the musculature of the limb being of such a nature 

 that when the bird goes to roost and squats on its perch, the 

 toes clasp the perch. But it is not the bird's weight which 

 closes the toes, this is performed by voluntary muscles called 

 the flexors, and the opposite action of opening the toes by 

 voluntary muscles likewise called extensors; and so to enable 

 the grasping action to be as complete as possible the muscles- 

 work by the aid of long tendons which go to the several digits. 

 Obviously one's object should be to provide perches which will 

 suit this grasping action best, and certainly broad aud flattened 

 perches are not the best, as on such a perch the hind toe and 

 fore toes cannot be properly approximated, and the bird must 

 be less steady than it should be. Not onh' that, it causes the 

 bird more strain to be obliged to grasp a large perch sufficiently 

 hard for it to keep its balance, and therefore these broad flat- 



