42 
HINTS ON CAGE-BIRDS. 
Doves are able to rear their young upon seed alone, which they 
partly digest and regurgitate, taking the bill of the young bird into 
their own and regularly pumping the food in. To any novice who 
sees this operation it looks as if the parent were trying to kill its 
offspring. If soft food is placed in the aviary I liave repeatedly 
noticed that all Doves partake freely of it when breeding, just as 
my Rosa’s Parrakeets did when they had young; it is therefore 
probable that they find it more easy to prepare for their young than 
seed alone. 
One thing must on no account be forgotten by all who desire 
to breed birds ; a plentiful supply of old mortar, cuttlefish bone, or 
slaked lime must either be scattered on the floor or put in a tray 
where the birds may easily find it. If this is not done egg-binding 
will be rather the rule than the exception, and many valuable birds 
may thereby lose their lives. 
A lump of hay salt, occasionally damped with a little water, is 
a wholesome thing, and much appreciated by many birds. 
Should any of your birds, in spite of all precautions, become 
egg-bound, drop a little salad, oil on the vent, or insert a camel’s 
hair pencil dipped in oil, then place the sufferer by itself in a 
warm cage and await results ; in nine cases out of ten, by the 
following morning a soft egg will be deposited, and the bird will 
have recovei’ed. Do not let it breed again immediately. 
CHAPTER VII. 
ON STUDYING THE HABITS OF BIRDS. 
The study of living birds is a fascinating one, whether one breeds 
them or not. If taken up from a proper motive, it should be 
used to add to the general sum of knowledge. Each man or 
woman who keeps birds should be wide awake to note every- 
thing of interest ; to learn, if possible, some fact not hitherto 
recorded. 
Whatever we do should not bo undertaken solely for our own per- 
sonal pleasure, but also to benefit our fellows. Every new fact 
which is recorded is one item added towards the comprehension of the 
book of Nature, one further step taken upon the endless but ever 
brightening road towards true science. 
Facts dealing with the sexual differences of birds, of which I 
