^"Is^^^l Correspondence. 25 I 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Captive Wild Birds. 



To THE Editors of ' The Ai'k ' : — 



Dear Sirs: — -I liave read witli great pleasure in jour January issue, 

 Mr. Owen's interesting paper on a captive Hermit Thrush, but there is 

 one point in connection witli his treatment of the bird — his liberating 

 him — on whicii I sliould like to say a few words, particularly as it is 

 almost universally supposed that to give a caged bird freedom, is a kind 

 thing to do, and the happiest for the bird. He had taken the young 

 Hermit before his training for a free life was finished, and accustomed 

 him to having his wants supplied and his safety assured, without effort 

 of his own. Then, when the season was nearly over, he thrust the young 

 creature out into the world to forage for himself. The bird had not 

 learned to seek his own food, nor, probably, to care for his own safety, 

 and his natural ties were completely severed, so that he had no instructor. 

 This is frequently done, and of course from the kindest motives, but it 

 has always seemed to me a great mistake, and a cruelty to the young 

 bird, to deprive him at one stroke of home, protection, shelter and food. 



According to my experience, when birds are thoroughly well treated, 

 not too closely confined to cages, and made happy under human care, 

 they learn to appreciate it, and many of them prefer to remain wheie life 

 is made easy for them. This is often the case, even with old birds who 

 know the pleasures as well as the pains of freedom. When let out, of 

 course they fly, but if they do not get lost they frequently return to their 

 old quarters. Many cases of this kind have been reported, and I have had 

 birds so attached to the comforts of their home that they even refused to 

 leave the cage though the door was open all day long, and birds were free 

 all around them. 



Birds are naturally fond of their liberty, no doubt, and if I had the 

 power to prevent it, not one should ever be caged, but after having inter- 

 fered with their parental training, taken them from their natural life, and 

 accustomed them to human care, to set them free seems to me to doom 

 them to great hardships, if not to death. 



Olive Thokne Miller. 



A Desirable Substitute for Carbon Bisulphide as an Insecticide. 



To The Editors of 'The Auk': — 



Dear Sirs :— The want of an efiicient substitute for disulphide of carbon, 

 one which should be free from the disgusting odor and extreme danger of 

 this chemical, has long been felt by all having ornithological collections; 

 and it seem not unlikely that the comparatively new preparation of formic 

 aldehyde, known as ' formalin,' will fill this want. 



