Maurice Amsler—Diet for Bearing Young Birds



3



I mentioned earlier that the Swainson’s Lorikeets had reared four

young in 1920. Two eggs since, laid in August, were clear ; but there

are two more in the nest-box due to hatch in a day or two. So I may

yet beat my own record and rear six in the year. This would make a

total of sixteen young in three years — a pretty good record, seeing that

the clutch is never more than two in number. For this I take no credit.

I merely happen to have bought a breeding pair, not an invariable

occurrence with this genus. When these Lorikeets first arrived I was

told to feed them on a mixture containing Mellin’s food, condensed

milk, honey, and crumbled biscuit or sponge-cake made up with boiling

water ; some of the ingredients were not very easy to obtain during the

War, and all were expensive in the long run. However, I continued

their use until the birds had reared their first chick. This bird grew

very slowly, although the above food was supplemented with cane-

sugar, which Mr. E. J. Brooke told me was very important ; he left the

nest at the age of twenty weeks , and was of about the same size as other

young birds I have since reared, which left the nest at five weeks.


I could not help thinking that in the case of these birds (I am not

referring to Sun-birds, Sugar-birds, and such like delicate fry) there was

something lacking in the condensed milk which handicapped the growth

of the young. Whether I was right or wrong, I decided at the time to

try a simpler food. I had noticed that the old birds were fond of sweet

rice pudding, but as this takes hours to make properly I tried ground

rice boiled for a few minutes with fresh cow’s milk and sweetened with

honey-sugar. This has been my staple food ever since, some two and a

half years, and the birds get scarcely anything else, very occasionally

a little fruit or perhaps a little custard. But they do not care much

for these “ treats


We have heard and read a good deal about “ Vitamines ” of late,

and I am wondering whether the usual mixture given to Sun-birds,

etc., may not be lacking in some such substance. It is known that the

lack of a Vitamine affects young and growing animals and birds much

more than it does adults, and the use of fresh cow’s milk might make all

the difference in the rearing of some rarity, such as a Sun-bird or

Fruitsucker.


I know, of course, that both these and other genera feed their young



