Keeping of Sollbills in Cages 149 



day by day until tJicy reach tln-ir full climax alxHit April. 

 From that time they will •,^raduaily drop oil', and liiuUy «top 

 alioiretlKM', and one liiu> morning in July you will find a few 

 small Icathei's on tiie cage bottom; tlie.se are the first signs 

 ol' the beginning ol' the moult, and you must take steps ac- 

 cordingly to bring this to a successful issue. There is nothhig 

 alarming about the moult; it is one of nature's laws that all 

 birds shall shed their pjunuige, and renew same once annually. 

 All you have to tlo is to keep the biixls quiet, give them 

 plenty of light, live anls-eggs, and wasp-grub, and guard 

 against draughts. Spiders are very benelieial during the 

 moult, and now and again 1 mix a lew drops of sulphite 

 of ii'on (1 to lU in water), with the stock-food and also 

 some i>owdered cuttle-fish bone. Cages containing freshly- 

 caught birds should be gradually uncovered after the bird 

 has stopped singing, and when there are the first signs of 

 moult, the cage front should be quite uncovered, to allow plenty 

 of light and air, which are essential to successful moulting. 



Nearly ail soft -bills will eat fruit during the autumn, 

 some all the year round; fruit, therefore, such as cherries, 

 elderberries, green-ligs, blackberries, ripe pears, etc., should 

 always form part of the menu during the moult, and after; 

 when pears run short, a baked appie will do equally well; 

 hi fact apple is a splendid aperient, and a preventative 

 agahist obesity, and raw apple may be mixed, grated with 

 the ants-eggs, instead of eai'rot, and given to such birds as 

 are inclined to over -feed themselves. The moult should be 

 finished in from four to six weeks, and when your birds 

 have again resumed their normal plumage you must examine 

 each one as to its state of bodily health — if too thin, feed on 

 richer food; if found too stout — feed on plainer food, and 

 generally speakhig make the latter a practice after moult 

 until December- -January, when the birds begin to start sing- 

 ing again. 



During the long winter evenings light a lamp in the 

 bird room for two hours, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. .so that the 

 birds can see to feed, as from -1 p.m. to 8 a.m. is too long 

 a time for them to fast. 



I think 1 have very nearly exhausted my subject on 

 management; there is only one item left, and not a very 



