Correspondence, Notes, etc.



they have fruit and bits of meat, etc., they so often, in their desire to

make the mouthful a suitable size, knock it about in the sand until it is

covered with it, and I should think it is a great question as to whether food

swallowed in such a state is healthy for them.


Then also, when the birds hop about, their feet often become

encrusted with sand mixed with excreta, and this is very bad for them.

Sand has a tendency to dry up the feet too much, for birds in their

wild life constantly keep them moist in dewy grass. At any rate, there are

Herr Karl Kullmann’s birds, living for eight, ten, and fifteen years in

perfect health, and I never saw Nightingales, Blackcaps, etc., with feet in

better condition ; or in better all-round health.


Herr Kullmann’s address is


Staufen Strasse, 26,


Frankfort A/M.


He is a most extraordinarily clever imitator of birds’ songs, and

without in the least attainingto the true key notes, or even by whistling, he

will, by means of various vocal sounds, convey to you the song of a bird.


He has studied for many years the most desirable manner of feeding

insectivorous birds, and has put together a mixture called “ Lucullus,”

which is made up by a bird-dealer at Homburg.


The address is


Friedrich Fries,


Louisen Strasse, 8,


Bad-Homburg, v.d. Holie,


Germany.


Herr Fries excels in making cages, especially cages for insectivorous

birds. They are open to the front only, and the tops are of green plush-

silk (or some such texture). The perches are screwed 011 from the outside,

so that they can be moved to any part of the cage, and they do not go right

across.


He particularly studies the size of the birds’ feet for which the cage

is intended ; and the result is quite excellent. They are not round, but a

flattened oval.


Herr Fries’ birds are most beautifully kept. He uses peat moss

litter at the bottom of the cages, and when .lie sends a bird by rail, a piece

of paper is placed over the peat-moss, and fixed down by means of three

pieces of wood (“ perches ” they might be called), so that when the cage

arrives after a jolting in the train, everything is in order; the pieces of wood

are removed and the paper which they have held down, and there under¬

neath is a clean bed of peat-moss litter. A great advantage of this moss is

that it will keep clean for a very long time; it is only necessary to turn it

over and shake it up every morning, removing any dirt, which is easily

done. Then, too, the moss is beautifully soft for the birds’ feet, and

absorbes the water which may be splashed on to it from the bath.



