22 
HINTS ON CAGE-BIRDS. 
Whatever you do, never buy thin, badly plucked, or throbbing 
birds ; they are almost certain to die promptly if yon do ; the loss 
of a tail, or a very little pecking at the back of the head, provided 
that the bird be plump and active, with bright eye and no feverish 
heat about the vitals, are of little moment ; a few feathers are soon 
replaced by a healthy bird. Whether, however, your purchase be 
pecked or perfect when it first comes into your possession, and even 
though it may seem to be in excellent health, it will be wise for you 
to keep it in quarantine for a few days, to make quite sure of it 
before placing it with others. 
Many years ago I was taught a severe lesson bearing upon the 
above point. I had been breeding Canaries, and had been excep- 
tionally lucky in the number of cock-birds in my batch of youngsters. 
Thinking to provide two of my birds with hens at a cheap rate, I 
went to a shop and bought a 'so-called “pair” of bright-looking 
German hens for half-a-crown. These birds looked so healthy that 
I turned them straight in with the others, and within a fortnight 
I had lost every Finch in my collection excepting a sturdy old 
Chaffinch, which survived for many years. Take care that the same 
trouble does not befall you. 
CHAPTER HI. 
HOW TO FEED BIRDS. 
In my last chapter J made observations and gave hints respecting 
the stocking of cage and aviary; not that I consider it wise to 
purchase stock immediately after the housing of the birds has been 
provided for, but because it is necessary to decide wliat you intend 
to keep, and how you propose to obtain them, before yon can 
adequately prepare for their wellbeing. 
Before actually making your purchases, the first thing to study 
is how to feed them correctly ; more deaths are due to the neglect 
of this most important consideration than to anything else. As I 
have undertaken to give hints on cage-birds, with the object of 
making the work of the beginner easier and less heart-breaking 
than it was when I first took up the study, it will not, perhaps, 
be necessary for me to advise him in every instance to look up the 
wild life of his proposed pets ; although, as regards the foreigners, 
he could discover almost all he is likely to require in “ Foreign Bird 
Keeping,” and in the case of the Britishers, the much more expensive 
work, “ British Birds with their Nests and Eggs," would afford 
similar information ; I will, therefore, first of all, give some general 
hints respecting the foods most necessary to the bird-keeper, and 
then pass on to details. 
For seed-eating birds the most important foods are canary and 
white millet ; if you keep a large assortment of birds, both Biitish 
