MOZAMBIQUE TERRITORY, PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA (1) 29 
Robin-chats are not difficult to catch once their haunts are 
known. This one was caught in a spring-net trap baited with 
meal-worms. The trap is merely a wire frame jointed in the 
middle, and across which some fine-mesh string-netting is fixed; 
it is pegged to the ground and concealed with leaves and grass. 
A cork acts as a plate, and to this same meal-worms are pinned 
by their tails. They struggle constantly to get free and are soon 
detected by a bird, if the trap is set in the right place. A tug on 
the worm sets off the trigger and over flies the net. 
It is strange that birds regard meal-worms as a small boy regards 
a cream bun, although they may never have seen them before; 
in fact, they seem to know by instinct that they are something 
delicious. Meal-worms are bred commercially on the Continent, 
from where they are sent all over the world to zoos and vendors 
of bird-foods who cater for private requirements. 
The term “worm” is unfortunate, for they are in fact the larval 
stage of the meal-beetle and, having smooth leathery skins, are 
not at all objectionable to handle. If kept in a warm place and 
supplied with plenty of bran to eat, they quickly change from 
worms to grubs (pupae) and then to beetles. These breed and lay 
eggs which change into worms, and so the cycle goes on. A metal 
box with a perforated lid and a plentiful supply of meal-worms 
is an essential part of the collector’s kit when he sets off for some 
tropical country in search of new specimens. They are not only 
convenient bait for traps, but are essential as food for newly caught 
birds while they are becoming accustomed to the artificial food on 
which they must eventually subsist. 
This food consists generally of dried flies, ants’ eggs (pupae), 
and sweet biscuit meal, mixed together with melted fat and honey. 
This will keep almost indefinitely, and to the daily quantity 
required some finely chopped hard-boiled egg can be added. 
When dried flies and ants’ eggs are not available, shrimp- or meat- 
meal is a good substitute. Although most insectivorous birds come 
to like this artificial food, it is essential to give them a few live 
meal-worms daily, not only to keep them fit, but also to make 
them tame, for they are then always watching their owner to see 
if he is bringing a worm, which, when offered, is readily taken 
from the fingers. 
