AMERICAN THRUSHES. 11 



your bird regularly; keep your cage clean and 

 dry ; do not let his victuals get stale or sour. If 

 these simple rules are attended to, the Mocking 

 Bird will live, on an average, as long as any bird 

 that is kept in a cage. 



There are various diets adopted for this bird. 

 At the South, the general food is egg and potatoe 

 mixed ; here at the North it is Indian meal and 

 milk, and I knew a gentleman in Maine who 

 kept a very fine bird for three years ; he fed it 

 upon eggs and beef alone. It died moulting, 

 occasioned, as he supposed, by a fall from its 

 perch when in that state, owing to a sudden jar 

 given to the cage. 



I have tried all those different modes of feed- 

 ing, and I am inclined to believe, that the meal 

 and milk is the best, at least for this section of 

 the country. In summer I scald the milk, which 

 prevents it from souring so soon ; and even then 

 it is well to give your bird a little fresh at noon 

 in very warm weather. I give them likewise 

 about half of the yolk of a hard boiled egg twice 

 a week, and as often a bit of beef, (the lean); it 

 should be laid on a table and scraped with a 

 knife, which frees the beef from the muscles ; it 

 is then like a paste, and they can eat without the 

 danger of suffocation, by swallowing too large a 



