H4 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



egg into a saucepan with a lid to it, and place it over 

 a good fire, being watchful the custard does not boil, 

 or it will be spoilt. To assist the custard in setting, 

 add a pinch of powdered alum. The proportion is 

 sixteen eggs to a quart of milk. 



When the custard is hard set, turn it out into a 

 dish ; it may be used as soon as cold, chopped up on 

 a clean board, then mixed with the oatmeal, and 

 served round the coops in a shallow tin pan. A pint 

 measure will supply one feed to a hundred birds for 

 the first week. 



When custard (or hard-boiled eggs) and oatmeal 

 .are mixed together for pheasants' food, it should be of 

 such a consistency that it will crumble between the 

 fingers when taken from the feeding tin and thrown to 

 the birds. 



If the ground is damp add more meal than usual 

 to the custard in order to produce a mixture which 

 will not melt away on the wet grass. If the ground is 

 dry and hard, add a little boiling water to the oatmeal, 

 so as to give the birds more moisture in their food. 

 No animal food whatever (other than egg) is necessary 

 for the first week, but some lettuce or onions cut up 

 very small should be incorporated with the custard 

 and meal, and after three days of this food some 

 canary seed may also be added. 



