22 CAGE AND SlKGirnQ CrilDS. 
their parents. As a g-eneral rule tliey should not be talcen 
until the quill feathers of the tail are well out, and the others 
have beg'un to grow ; they are then, as it is called, stump 
feathered, a stage of their growth which is commonly 
reached in about three weeks. Some species should be 
secured earlier, as will be mentioned in the accounts 
g-iven of them in the second section of this work; but 
there is always a danger that the change from natural 
to artificial food will kill them. On the other hand, if ^ ' 
left too long in the nest they will be difficult to catch, 
and when caught will frequently refuse to open their 
beaks, and take the food in a different way from that to 
which they have been accustomed, and so perish of hunger. 
It is best, if possible, to take the nest with the young 
birds, and let them remain in it suspended within a cage 
in a warm room. They should be fed for the first week or 
two almost every hour during the day, and at night covered 
up with flannel 5 they will then sleep until the light is ad- 
mitted to them, which it should not be until their food is 
quite ready, as a long period of chirping and expectancy will 
injure them. The smaller and more delicate birds should be a f 
fed with a quill, and great care must be taken that they do 
not hurt their mouths or throats, as in this case they will 
probably refuse the food altogether. The larger kinds, such 
as thrushes, may be fed by means of a piece of stick slightly 
flattened at the end, and pointed, but not too sharply. 
Small pieces of food at the time should be given, certainly 
not larger than a pea, and never overfeed them ; leave olf j 
when they cease to manifest great eagerness for the profifered ^ 
morsel. The food should be tolerably moist and quite fresh; [ 
bread and milk, with rape-seed scalded and crushed, will suit % 
nearly all kinds ; the insectivorous kinds require scraped meat; ^ 
ants' eggs, or meal worms, mixed with it, and there are ' 
other variations as specified in our accounts of the several 
species. If young birds are obliged to be left for any con- 
siderable time, it is best to cover them and exclude the light; 
they will then most probably sleep in happy ignorance of its ^ 
being other than their legitimate time for rest. After awhile, 
once in two or three hours will be often enough to administe 
food, and very soon the birds will begin to peck for them 
:-elves, and this is a critical period in their lives ; they are 
