3o8 Caa'arjes a aid Cage-Birds.' 



pound of peameal, a quarter of a pound of coarse Scotch oatmeal, one ounce of moist sugar, one 

 ounce of olive oil, two ounces of honey, half a pint of well-crushed hemp-seed, half a gill of maw- 

 seed. The meal and sugar should be well rubbed in, then add the oil and honey, which has been 

 first well mixed. Stir the whole together so that there be no lumps, then add the hemp and 

 maw seed. 



The moulting season is particularly dangerous to this delicate bird. If it shows signs of ailing, 

 give some good nourishing food and a large spider or two, taking especial care to keep the bird 

 out of any draught. Should the stomach be out of order, the bird will show it by puffing up its 

 feathers, half closing its eyes, and putting its head under its wings, continuing thus for a long 

 time. This will be best relieved by a diet of ants' eggs, a spider, or just sufficient saffron in the 

 drinking-water to give it an orange tinge. A good tonic in case of raggedness or loss of flesh 

 may be found in a finely-chopped fig mixed up in its ordinary food, also placing a rusty nail 

 in the water. 



The Blackcap, like the Nightingale, arrives in England towards the end of March and 

 beginning of April, leaving again in August or September ; the males also precede the females. 

 The song of this bird is so agreeable that it is called the " Mock Nightingale." Its tones are loud, 

 sweet, and especially flute-like. It is a small bird, considering the fulness of its song, being smaller 

 even than the Nightingale ; the average length is about five and three-quarter inches. The beak 

 is shaped similarly to the Nightingale's, its colour dark horn-brown, paler beneath, the edges 

 yellowish-grey, the inside of the mouth bluish-grey. Its distinguishing characteristic is a jet-black 

 cap or hood on the crown of its head, which has earned for it in Germany the name of the " Monk." 

 The cheeks and nape of the neck are grey ; the back and wing-coverts are ash-grey, shaded 

 with olive-brown ; the pinions and tail are dark brown, edged with the same colour as the back ; 

 the breast is light grey, paler towards the throat and belly. The female differs from her mate, 

 inasmuch as she is a trifle larger, while tlie cap on the head is a chocolate-brown, the other parts 

 of the body being slightly tinged with brown. 



Like the Nightingale, this bird chooses its dwelling in some secluded copse or undergrowth or 

 orchard ; it is shy, timid, and rather restless, also somewhat pugnacious when wild, hardly ever 

 breeding very near to another pair. It feeds on caterpillars, spiders, flies, and other insects ; and 

 berries and fruits, such as elderberries, currants, raspberries, and green figs. Its nest is generally 

 found in a bramble or amongst honeysuckle, and it has been known to build in gooseberry and 

 currant bushes. The nest is built exceedingly lightly of thin bents of dry grass and fibrous roots, 

 scantily lined with horsehair. The eggs are usually five in number, of a dull white, lightly tinged 

 with green, mottled with grey and light brown, mingled with a few spots of darker brown. The 

 male bird assists in the duties of incubation. They sit very closely, and will even risk capture 

 rather than forsake their nest ; the writer having once thus caught a very fine male bird, which was 

 successfully " meated off," and proved to be a first-class songster. The, plumage of the young is 

 very similar to that of the adult female, the distinctive features of the male bird only showing after 

 the first moult. 



The cage for a Blackcap should resemble that of the Nightingale, not forgetting the green 

 baize for the perches ; the bird is very fond of bathing, and should be provided with plenty of 

 water, care being taken to prevent him from wetting his perches. It is rather wasteful with its 

 food, unless the troughs be placed outside the cage and covered in to prevent scattering. As 

 it does not care much for sunlight, preferring shade, it is as well to cover the cage with green 

 gauze to take off the glare of the sun. It is a quiet, sociable bird in an aviary, but its song 



