126



The Wagtails walk, they do not hop, therefore they require a consider¬

able space of ground on which to exercise themselves, and should never be

confined in a cage. In an aviary, our bird soon makes himself at home,

and will live happily for some years, if carefully fed.


Some few years ago, while living in the Midlands, I possessed a fair¬

sized indoor aviary, in which I kept a good many migratory British Birds.

Here I kept the Yellow Wagtail along with the smallest and most delicate

Warblers, and I never found that he did them the slightest injury, although he

was sometimes just a little tyrannical. But two male Wagtails, whether of

the same or different species, will frequently quarrel and fight.


This bird is a somewhat large eater, and takes very kindly to hard

boiled egg, though he likes Abrahams’ Preserved Egg even better, because

that is all yolk. He should have as much egg as he will eat, and as many

soaked ants’ eggs as he will eat. Also three or four mealworms a day, and as

many flies and small caterpillars as you can take the trouble to catch.


The Yellow Wagtail is a tender bird, but I do not consider him nearly

so delicate as the Warblers, he eats more heartily of artificial food than the}’

do, and consequently does not require so many mealworms.


I am a strongbeliever in Dr. Bradburn’s system of feeding insectivorous

British birds—that is, I believe in making soaked ants’ eggs their staple

article of diet, and in giving plent}’ of mealworms. The ants' eggs

should be prepared as Dr. Bradburu recommends, namely by soaking them

forfiveminutes(uotlouger)in cold water—then straiuoff thewater andgiveto

the birds without admixture. Supply the hard-boiled egg in a separate

vessel, and don’t dilute it with bread crumbs : the stomach of an insectivorous

bird was not made to digest farinaceous food, and he gets little or no

nourishment from the bread.


There should always be a large shallow pan of water in a Wagtail's

aviary, but it will be found that in captivity he is less fond of water than

would be supposed.


The Yellow Wagtail flees from Britain in the autumn to spend the

winter in warmer climes, therefore the room in which he is kept should be

artificially heated in winter. This bird has, however, been known to survive

the winter in a cold aviary.



NEW BOOKS.


British Birds, by IV. H. Hudson , C.M.Z.S. fLongmans , Green Co.)


The subject of British Birds has been so exhaustively treated by

Yarrell, Seebolim, Howard Saunders, and others that it is not to be expected

that very much that is new could be said upon it in a small book of 350 pages.

Mr. Hudson is a pradtised and accomplished writer, and, as might have been

expedted, his contribution to the literature of British Birds is both readable

and accurate, but the novelty of subjedt which gave such a charm to his

works on South American ornithology is here absent. The book is rendered

very attradlive by the illustrations, which are of very high merit — they

consist of eight coloured plates from drawings by A. Thorburn, eight

plates and one hundred figures in black and white from drawings by

G. E. Dodge and three illustrations from photographs from nature bv

R. B. Lodge. The chromos are superior to anything of the kind which we

have seen before, and will bear comparison with some hand-coloured plates.

The black and white illustrations are remarkably spirited, and convey a far

better idea of the birds represented than black and white pictures usually do.


The following quotation from the Introduction will explain the plan

of the work: “A brief account is given of the appearance, language, and

life-habits of all the species that reside permanently, or for a portion of

each year, within thelimitsof theBritish Islands. The accidental stragglers,

with the irregular or occasional visitors, have been included, but not

described, in the work. To have omitted all mention of them would,



