Hawks and Owi.s. 45 



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 invariabl}' 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 pre}', 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-importaut 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. On 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 l^ird should be given some fur or feather— bird, 

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

 'natural fur' a good substitute may l)e made l)y cutting up tow 

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



