MANAGEMENT OF CAPTIVE BIRDS. 191 



purely insectivorous kinds should not be kept by anyone 

 who cannot command a constant supply of live insects. 



Green food, such as the various salad vegetables, is 

 needed by seed-eating birds, and may be sometimes eaten 

 by insect-eaters. If these do not naturally eat any salad 

 or fruit when offered, it is well to mix a little finely mixed 

 lettuce in their paste, to make up for the green stuff 

 which they swallow inside caterpillars. Green food for 

 seed-eaters should be securely tied up, not thrown in. A 

 few birds commonly kept are Honey-suckers to some 

 extent. They should have sweetened sop or safoo-pap 

 allowed them, but nothing sticky. Extreme care should 

 also be taken not to give sour food to any bird. In 

 reason, the more varied sorts of food a bird can be got 

 to eat the better ; but it should never be kept long on 

 any artificial food exclusively, and its diet should never 

 be suddenly changed altogether. 



The idea that birds always know what is good for them 

 is a mistake ; they will over-eat themselves disgracefully. 

 A bird which has not had fruit, green food or insects 

 for some time should only receive such food sparingly 

 at first, or it will make itself very ill, or even die out- 

 right. 



GRIT, LIME AND SALT. 



All seed-eating birds, and a good many others, need 

 grit, such as coarse sand or fine gravel stones, to help in 

 the digestion of their food. This should be given sepa- 

 rately in a box if the aviary is not bedded with sand or 

 earth. Only a very sparing allowance of grit should be 



