26 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



meat and spice added. Both Spratt's chick-grain and 

 Evans's No. 5 pheasant food are good. These are fed dry. 



Animal Food. Some animal food is essential to these wild 

 birds as a substitute for their natural insect food. It is not 

 necessary to provide insects for adults, but meat-scrap prep- 

 arations can be substituted. These must be of a high- 

 grade quality, and must be sparingly fed. One can easily 

 kill the birds by giving cheap preparations made from de- 

 caying meat, or by giving too much, even of the best. 

 Spratt's crissel is a standard preparation widely used, said 

 to be from clean lean meat. If mixed with the grain it 

 should be used very sparingly, probably not over about 5 

 per cent. The safest plan is to feed it separately. Some 

 scald it and give a meal of it, as much as the birds will eat, 

 twice a week. Others feed it dry twice a week, or keep a 

 dish of it under shelter before the birds all the time. They 

 seem to take only what the system craves, and do not over- 

 load with it. It is dangerous to mix a lot of it in the feed 

 and force the birds to eat it. Instead of this, a feed of 

 chopped raw meat or of mealworms twice a week is excellent. 



Green Food. Green food is also essential. In summer 

 the grass and weeds in a proper pen will pretty well supply 

 this. Clover sown in the pens is a splendid food. In the 

 fall give them green corn on the cob, elderberries or other 

 fruit, split apples, chickweed, and the like. For winter 

 vegetation anything available will answer, such as apple, 

 ground beet, carrot, turnip, etc., green sprouts or tops, 

 cabbage in moderation. Some think that cabbage causes 

 indigestion, and it is well to vary or alternate. In the spring 

 fresh lettuce, cowslips, or watercress will help to stimulate 

 laying. 



Forcing-food. For this latter purpose most skilled 

 breeders use for pheasants some sort of forcing-food, to aid 



