278 Practical Bird-Keeping .— V. Hazuks and Owls.


roost; the pellet, if he is going to cast one, will be thrown early

in the morning, and the first part of the day, feeling hungry, he

will be somewhat restless and take a lot of exercise moving from

perch to perch. Many people are apt to think that because a

bird is restless he is unhappy; no greater fallacy was ever put

forward, for so-called restlessness is often his only method of

taking exercise, which is as essential for birds as for men. As

a rule, the only way to get a captive bird to exercise is for him

to have a healthy appetite, which is in turn further stimulated

by the exercise. The happy and contented individual that sits

preening himself all day on his perch almost invariably suffers

from liver and eventually dies from an accumulation of super¬

abundant fat.


No birds, however, are so lethargic and ‘ livery’ in captivity

as birds of prey, and hence it becomes essential if they are to be

kept not merely alive but in the ‘ pink of condition ’ that details

in the structure of their aviaries and their diet should be care¬

fully attended to. This brings us to the all-important question

of diet; if possible to obtain, nothing can excel fresh birds,

rabbits or rats, but in most cases such a diet cannot, apart from

expense, be easily procured, and so we are driven to butcher’s

meat. O11 this, however, most species will live well, provided

they are given good, sound, lean meat, with as little fat as

possible. Although some people use ‘lights’ or ‘liver’ I have

very little faith in it, though it may be given for a change, but,

apart from their nutritive properties, this food is too soft, and

the bird loses the exercise gained by pulling to pieces good,

strong meat.


Another food extensively used by some is fowls’ heads,

these are chiefly skin and bone, and as the bones are too large

and of the wrong shape for a Hawk up to the size of a Peregrine

this food is chiefly useful to give the bird a certain amount of

feather and a good deal of exercise. For five days in the week,

however, good lean meat is the best and most suitable food ; on

the sixth day the bird should be given some fur or feather—bird,

rabbit or rat—in order that it may cast a pellet. I11 default of

‘natural fur’ a good substitute may be made by cutting up tow

in lengths 01 about an inch and mixing it with the meat; this



