BOOK VIII. IX. 3-x. 2 



bulk. Here they are constantly fed with millet or 

 wheat ; but the grain must not be given them unless 

 it is dry. Half a modius of food every day easily 

 satisfies a hundred and twenty turtle-doves. The 4 

 purest possible water is always provided in vessels 

 such as are used for pigeons and hens. The mats 

 are kept clean so that the dung does not burn their 

 feet, and the dung should itself be carefully set aside 

 for the cultivation of the fields and trees, as also that 

 of all birds except those which swim. This bird is 

 not so suitable for cramming when it is old as when 

 it is young, and so the choice is made about harvest- 

 time when the young brood has already gained 

 strength. 



X. Still more labour and expense is spent on Thrushes. 

 thrushes, which are kept in every country district, 

 but, with greater advantage to their health, in that 

 in which they have been caught; for there are 

 difficulties about moving them elsewhere, because, 

 when they are shut up in cages, most of them become 

 despondent; indeed they do so when they are in- 

 stantaneously hurled from the net into the aviaries. 

 So, to prevent this, some old thrushes ought to be 

 mixed with them which, having been brought up by 

 the fowlers for this purpose, may serve as decoys for 

 the captives and may mitigate their distress by 

 flying in among them. For in this way wild birds 

 will become used to seeking both their water and 

 their food when they have seen the tame birds doing 

 so. They require a place as well protected and as 2 

 sunny as wood-pigeons need, but transverse poles are 

 fixed in it fitted into holes pierced in the walls which 

 face one another, on which they may perch when 

 they have had their fill of food and wish to rest. 



