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This can be obviated to some extent by a plentiful supply of live

food, but, in the case of caged birds, much discretion is required in the

administration of such live food as the average aviculturist gets hold of;

mealworms being the alpha and omega as a rule, but as they are stimulating

rather than nourishing they cannot be given with impunity.


Then there are individual peculiarities in birds to cope with : some will

eat and thrive on food that others of the same species would obstinately

refuse. A Robin I had, never did so well on my theoretically rational food

as he did on the bread crumbs and crushed hempseed of his former owner t

and I could quote many such instances.


I have no desire to disparage any brand of ready-made food; many

are liiuch better than the novice would make for himself, but none are

perfect: as a fadt, in nine cases out of ten, the sponsor of a bought food

says, “On this, and mealworms and meat occasionally, my birds thrive.”

Exactly ! and to what extent, I would seek to know, are they indebted to

these very tit-bits, which are so extremely nourishing that but little is

required ? Aviculturists would do well to adopt the motto, “ Little and

good,” iu dieting their charges. They would then get a deal more song —

if song they wanted—than they do where a bird has to eat a large quantity

of food in order to obtain sufficient nourishment to maintain life, or has to

spend its time picking over a heap of food in search of the only ingredients

it cares for or, as a rule, requires.


I wish it to be understood that I allude entirely to the feeding of

British Birds, and more especially to that of the smaller Warblers. A

tablespoouful of paste made of ants’ cocoons and yolk of egg is much more

acceptable to them neat, than the same ingredients diluted with a handful

of bread crumbs which the}- seldom partake of, and which, I cannot hello

feeling, robs the paste by absorption of some portion of its nutritive

•qualities. T. Marshau,.


THE ETHICS OF EXHIBITING.


Sir,—A lthough perhaps late in the day, I may be allowed to trespass

on the ground already gone over. Opinions are sure to differ, but if we

draw the line within reason, surely sending our birds occasionally to Shows

will not be considered cruelty, neither will it be detrimental to their health.

But to go farther than this, as some exhibitors do, whose ambition it is

to show' their birds almost unceasingly throughout the season, and who no

sooner receive them home from one Show than they dispatch them to

Another, must, I admit, render the poor creatures’ lives not w'orth living.

Exhibitors such as these surely can have but little love towards their

feathered friends, but certainly must be studying what financial gain may

be obtained.


I have won hundreds of prizes with Foreign Birds, but it has

invariably been my practice to be at the Shows with my birds during

the greater part of the time, that I may see that the Stewards do not feed

them with poultry-foods, which I have seen done at some exhibitions. It

is most necessary that exhibitors should personally attend, to see to the

well-being of their pets, and not leave them hr. the hands of those who

have no knowledge of their requirements. Perhaps, with some who

exhibit, the .'journeying to the Show would' be' impossible : then I would

recommend them-.to send only within reasonable distances.


I have some specimens which I really think enjoy an outing:.



