iSi



My Tuis, a male and female, were part of a consignment which reached one

of the London dealers earl} r this spring, and were advertised in the

Avicultural Magazine. When they reached me they were, though stained

and shabby, in good health and vigorous ; and so I am glad to say they

remain up to now.


They are fed on stale bread-crumb about two parts, Abraham’s

mixture one part, moistened slightly with a little grated carrot. A little

preserved yolk of egg is added, and a dash of Carl Capelle’s food and ant’s

eggs ; the last two not quite regularly, but several times a week. The

whole of this, the preparation of which only occupies a few minutes, is

thoroughly mixed, and pounded up in a mortar, and, of course, enough

only is prepared to carry the birds through the 24 hours. No mealworms

are given, and no extras of any kind, except that each bird has daitya piece

of banana or ripe orange, which is given to them while their cages are

being cleaned out—though such a thing is not wanted now ; when the

birds were strange to me the gift of these dainties had a great effect in

taming them. I only give them enough fruit in this way to occupy them

for a few minutes, during which time it is amusing to see the clever way in

which they use their long tongues.


In other ways too I think this amount of fruit has a wholesome effect

upon birds which are being kept upon a diet which, as compared with what

they get in a wild state, is of dr}4 and what a school-boy would call a

“stodgy,” character.


My birds under this treatment have moulted clean out, and have a

lovely sheen upon their feathers, and they always seem in the highest

spirits. They are in motion the whole day long, and, as long as the room

is lighted, singing and calling to each other and running through their

marvellously varied repertoire of musical sounds, to the delight of all who

hear them.


Each of my birds has a large cage with ample space for exercise, and

frequent opportunities, which are seldom declined, of bathing. I am

looking forward, now that the summer seems reall}- to have come, to

enlarging my pets into a garden aviary, in the hope that they may be

tempted to go to nest when their natural breeding-season approaches. If

I should meet with an} r success I will ask you to admit a further letter on

the subject.* -- W. H. ST. OuinTin.


Sir, —Replying to the enquiries of Mr. Wiener, I was in the habit of

giving my Tuis about a large egg-cup full of food twice a day. The quality

of the potatoes did not matter so long as they were sound. I used moist sugar

(about a teaspoonful), and the potato was pounded with the sugar and a

small quantity of hot water into a perfect paste. The birds lost no strength

in confinement, and although they slept in a cage, for hours in the day they

flew about the room, and if called would perch on my hand and imitate my

voice and movements. Naturally, of course, they are pollen-eating birds,

and I presume that the potato and sugar mixture is as near an approach to

pollen as can be made.


At the present time I have a beautiful specimen of the Blue Mountain

Lor} - , which one of my sons brought from Sydney four 3'ears ago. He also

is a flower-sucking bird, but I have not tried him with potato and sugar.



* A solitary female, which I had for over three years, “ nested ” every season, usually

in a small basket hung up in the bird-room ; she was broody for some weeks every year.


I find it difficult to believe that a diet of potatoes, etc., can be good for a Tui ;

anyway, a Tui will get on remarkably well without potatoes.—R. P.



