A Plea for the Birds 319 



After every feeding a young bird should be given 

 a drink of water. They should be induced to 

 swallow it and if it is put into their mouths with a 

 teaspoon it will be very likely to go down. After 

 the first ten days a little ants' eggs may be mixed 

 with the potato and egg. 



Evergreens especially valuable to bird life are the 

 arbor-vitae, white spruce, balsam fir, hemlock, 

 Colorado blue spruce, Scotch and white pine, and 

 Norway spruce. A branch of one of these put 

 into the bird cage will give a great deal of pleasure. 



Red elderberries will prove a great blessing to wild 

 birds. They will not eat fruits as long as the elder- 

 berries last. Do not make the mistake of plant- 

 ing purple elderberries, such as are sometimes used 

 for making wine. 



Sunflowers planted late will not scatter so badly 

 as those planted earlier in the season and they can 

 be relied upon as excellent food for the birds. 



In feeding hemp seed to young birds, crack it 

 before putting it into their cages or it may be too 

 much for them to digest. 



A caged bird should have a piece of fishbone on 

 which to whet his beak. He will love this and 



