ON TAMING BIRDS. 
55 
towards the front ; two large tins for food and water slid in from 
the front, and the sand tray slid in below them ; the door was at 
the side. In these cages I got my birds quite tame in three or four 
days — so that they would take mealworms from my fingers. 
That, however, was during a severe winter, when birds were 
dying wholesale out of doors from starvation ; therefore, it is 
possible that equally good results might not always be obtained in 
the same way; nevei-theless, the plan of my cages, which compelled 
their inmates to face their master when he put their food and 
water in, and yet allowed them a back perch to retire to when <liey 
felt nervous, was certainly the most suitable to convince them that 
no evil was intended them. The willow bars prevented the captives 
cutting their faces when first imprisoned, which is an important 
matter if you wish a bird to become tame. 
A bird-catcher once informed me that the only way to tame 
Finches was to put them into those horrible little cages measuring 
about 3 in. by 5 in. floor space, in which some unhappy Linnets are 
incarcerated for life. He said you must carry this cage, with its 
inmate, about with you every day for at least an hour, the cage 
being tucked under your arm, and you must occasionally swing it 
about. (I imagine the idea was to try and persuade the poor thing 
to think it was flying). That bird-catcher showed me a Goldfinch 
Mrs. Ogle and her Heron. 
