.66 Pkacticat, Bird-Keeping. 



IX. 



LIVING FOOD FOR INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



By Dr. A. G. Butler. 



All aviculturists who have attempted to breed iiisect-eatiiig 

 birds have spoken of the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient 

 quantity of suitable food for this purpose : this is partly due to 

 want of knowledge of those insects, tlieir larvae, or pupae, which 

 are suitable for the purpose ; partly to ignorance of the best 

 methods of obtaining these in abundance. I therefore propose 

 in the present paper to indicate first what kinds to select and 

 then to explain how the\' can be acquired. 



Spiders are not true insects, but all of them are much 

 sought after by insectivorous birds and are greedily devoured : 

 they are moreover tlie best medicine for ailing birds and have 

 saved the lives of not a few of my pets when they were too ill 

 to be tempted by any other food. Four or five of the common 

 garden spider {Epeira diadeinata), or failing these two or three 

 examples of a common greenhouse spider {JFegenatia atrica), or 

 even the repulsive looking house-spider {T. domestica) with its 

 wide spread of legs will soeedily restore a sickly bird to health 

 and activity. 



Birds have not the slightest fear of spiders, but rush upon 

 them with the greatest eagerness as soon as they are offered, 

 even that ugly little beast {^Dysdera canibHdgd) being most 

 attractive to avian taste. Harvest-spiders (^Phalaiigided) are also 

 accepted, although not with the same enthusiastic pleasure. 



When one considers that the food of spiders consists 

 entirely of insects, one can understand that when eating an 



