120 Rearing the Young Birds. 



to teach them to drink, and forcing down their delicate throats 

 whole peppercorns or grains of barley, is so opposed to 

 common sense that it does not need to be refuted. When 

 young pheasants and fowls are hatched in a state of nature, 

 they are stronger and more vigorous than those reared under 

 the care of man (unless, indeed, the season be so wet as to 

 be injurious to the wild birds), although they have to seek 

 their first food for themselves. Nature is far cleverer than 

 man, but unfortunately the latter has not always the sense 

 to perceive the fact. The nearer we can imitate her in our 

 arrangements, the more successful we shall be. 



With regard to the first food of the young chicks, there 

 is nothing superior to a supply of fresh ants' eggs (as they 

 are generally termed, although, strictly speaking, they are 

 the pupte, and not the eggs of the insects). For grain, I can 

 strongly recommend, as the first food, a good proportion of 

 canary seed in addition to grits and meal. Grain when 

 once crushed or bruised has its vitality destroyed, and it 

 then undergoes changes when exposed to the air ; the 

 difference between sweet, new oatmeal and the pungent, 

 biting, rancid meal that is often found in the fusty drawers 

 of the cornchandler is known to all persons accustomed to 

 use oatmeal as food. This change, however, does not occur in 

 the entire grain as long as its vitality exists, and hence the 

 whole canary seed, which is readily devoured by the young 

 pheasants, is almost certain to be fresh and sweet. More- 

 over, the husk contains a larger proportion of phosphate of 

 lime, or bone-making material, than the centre of the grain, 

 and is, therefore, better adapted to supply the wants of the 

 growing birds. The first food preferred by young partridges 

 is the seed of the crested dog's tail grass {Cijnosurus crisiatiis), 

 with which their crops will often be found quite full, and 

 there is no doubt it would be an equally advantageous food for 

 young pheasants, bat is not as readily obtained as canary seed. 



To afford a supply of artificially prepared animal food, 

 most of the books recommend hard-boiled eggs, grated or 



