82 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



or ten days old, Emden groats and coarse Scotch 

 oatmeal may be mixed with the ants' eggs, and 

 curds made from fresh milk with alum, are an 

 excellent addition. If ants' eggs cannot be pro- 

 cured in sufficient quantities, gentles should oc- 

 casionally be given, which may be obtained in 

 the following manner. An ox-liver, a sheep's 

 head and pluck, or the leg of a horse, should 

 be suspended from the bough of a tree in a warm 

 sheltered situation. Beneath this a wide shallow 

 tub, half filled with bran, should be placed. In 

 a short time the meat will be thoroughly fly- 

 blown, and in a few more days it will be covered 

 with maggots, or gentles, which will continue to 

 drop into the tub, where they soon become 

 cleaned and purged in the bran. A large spoon 

 or saucer may be used for removing them. Next 

 to ants' eggs, these perhaps constitute the best 

 ' standing dish ' for young pheasants, and have 

 besides the advantage of being within the reach 

 of every breeder. Wasps' nests, containing the 

 larvae and pupae, may be procured without dif- 

 ficulty at a later period of the season, and afford 

 a most acceptable treat. If the supply of these 

 should be too great for immediate use, or if it 

 should be thought advisable to economize the 

 stock, it will be necessary to bake them for a 

 short time in an oven. This will prevent the 



