H2 Bird-keeping. 



with. He should have a fresh-cut piece of turf every 

 day if possible, or at least three times a week ; this 

 may be kept fresh by watering it and putting it in a 

 saucer. The food and water should be put outside 

 of the cage. 



The young nestlings are very difficult to rear : they 

 should be old enough to have their tail-feathers nearly 

 an inch long, before they are taken from the nest. 

 The young males are nearly yellow, and the females 

 greyish-brown. They must be fed from the early 

 morning till it is dark at night, once in two hours, with 

 scalded crumbs of bread, scalded rape-seed and crushed 

 hemp-seed, and ants' eggs. When old enough to feed 

 themselves, the yolk of egg hard boiled and mixed 

 with grated bread crumbs should be their chief diet, 

 varied with a mealworm every day, ants' eggs, German 

 paste, sponge cake, a little lean meat now and then, 

 watercresses, lettuce and cabbage. 



In a wild state the Skylark feeds on insects, seeds, 

 and oats. The young birds should not be placed in 

 the room with other birds when they begin to sing, 

 or they will take their notes. They sing best in a cage, 

 and this should be placed in the open air on every 

 sunny, warm day, so that they may have plenty of fresh 

 air. They are apt to get their feet dirty and clogged 

 with hair, wool, or any loose substance of the kind in 

 which they can entangle their long claws, if allowed 

 to range the room or aviary ; and if they are not very 



