FOOD OF VARIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS 



branches of trees at night, they quickly but with deter- 

 mined grasp catch and hold the little birds at roost, and 

 eat them alive, generally beginning by biting off the bill. 

 In captivity they feed the same as the galagoes. 



LIONS, TIGERS, LEOPARDS (FELIBjE). 



In captivity the Felidm feed upon the flesh of other 

 animals, and, as a rule, in most collections the flesh of 

 horses and oxen is used on account of the large quantity 

 they consume ; as, for instance, a lion or tiger of full 

 growth will eat from 9 to 12 lbs. of flesh every day ; a 

 leopard from 4 to 7 lbs. 



There can be no doubt but the most natural and best 

 method of feeding these animals would be to let them 

 have the body or part of the body of much smaller animals 

 than horses or bulls, so that they could eat the small 

 bones, skin, intestines and all, with the blood contained 

 in the blood-vessels. 



Experience has proved that lions which have been fed 

 upon the flesh only of large animals do not breed freely, 

 and rarely have perfect offspring; the defective palate 

 of the young being the most frequent and almost constant 

 character of imperfection. 



The certainty of this has now been fully established by 

 observations made on animals bred in captivity. 



CHEETAH (FELIS JUBATA). 



Requires careful feeding. Never let them over-feed, 

 or attempt to move them from one cage to another 

 immediately after a meal. They often have fits if fright- 

 ened or driven about. Small portion of beef, mutton, 

 pigeons, and ducks' or fowls' heads, etc. 



349 



