IX. — Living Food for Insectivorous Birds.



43



as food for cage-birds, is a mystery : surely they would pay for

importation. In meadows of long grass where grasshoppers

occur, they might he swept up with a butterfly-net, emptied into

glass bottles, and turned out for the delectation of an aviary of

insectivorous birds. This reminds me of the value of the

entomological sweeping net, of canvas on an iron ring, for

collecting quantities of small insects, their larvae, and spiders,

from weed-filled ditches and hedgerows: sweeping the herbage

with a net of this kind one secures a vast store of insect-life in a

very short time ; and, for Warblers and other small birds, a

collection of this kind is invaluable.


The Cockroaches ( Blattarice ) are excellent food for all in¬

sectivorous birds, although some birds will only accept them in

the very young larval stage; the commonest form Periplaneta

a?nericaua may be easily captured in hundreds with the ordinary

so-called beetle-trap. In Madagascar a gigantic species is com¬

mon and if imported and bred in a greenhouse would doubtless

be most useful for feeding the larger species such as Mynahs,

Bower-birds, Crows, See. It is a most curious insect with feet

padded like those of a cat, for which reason I gave it the generic

name FEluropoda ; the largest specimens are from 69 to 73

millimetres in length, and 31 to 34 millimetres in width at the

widest part of the body, or the size of a tolerably large mouse.


The plant-bugs, with the exception of the Aphides (green¬

fly) are not generally much liked by birds, but there are excep¬

tions, as in the case of the so-called Water-boatmen ( Corisidce )

of which vast quantities are imported from Mexico under the

name of ‘‘dried flies” and form an ingredient in all the best


insectivorous mixtures put upon the market. I believe these


insects are chiefly caught when flying over the water in the

evening in dense clouds ; but the presence of small fish among

them shows that they are followed by the net even after their

return to their native element. It is probable, I think, that


Cicadas would also be acceptable to birds, but I have had no¬


opportunity of testing this : the Membracidce to which family our

cuckoo-spit (frog-hopper in its adult form) belongs, are certainly

eaten when offered, and I believe that some birds will even eat

mealy-bugs ( Coccidce ).



