THE BLACKCAP. 
two weeks in May. The nest must "be sought for in the same 
places as you would seek the blackbird’s nest — among stunted 
bushes and dense underwood. The nest would be almost as 
difficult to discover as that of the blackbird, but for one 
circumstance. The blackcap is a good-natured husband to 
his little redhood, and is always willing to take a spell at the 
nest while she is away. "Whether his object is to keep the 
children quiet is not known, but it is true that he invariably 
treats them to a song, which, although it may tend to 
soothe the nestlings, has the unhappy effect (for the blackcap) 
of directing the nester. 
Young blackcaps are as delicate as young nightingales, and 
must be treated with the same tenderness. Feed them on the 
crumb of white bread, moistened with boiled milk, and sprinkle 
on the sop thus made a few ants’ eggs. 
The Blackcap’s Cage. — It should be afoot and a half long, a 
foot high, and nine inches deep. It should be furnished with two 
perches, which should be covered tightly with fine green baize, as 
the feet of the blackcap are very tender. The perches should be 
made moveable, or else when the bird takes his bath, he will 
speedily saturate the baize with his wet feet. He is a bird 
that prefers shade to sunlight, therefore have his cage solid at 
the top, or, better still, have a case of the lightest green gauze, 
ready to throw loosely over his cage during the brightest and 
hottest parts of the day. More than others the blackcap has 
a habit of pecking at the bars of his cage, therefore they should 
be simply of white tin wire, or if you prefer to see them coloured 
send the cage to a japanner, who will decorate it with a glazed 
colour, and bake it on, so that it will be harmless. Let the 
food and drinking vessels be hung outside the cage, or if inside, 
have both vessels provided with a lid, in which there is a round 
hole, as the blackcap has a habit of scattering and wasting his 
food. He is particularly fond of bathing. 
Food op the Blackcap. — Like the nightingale, the food of 
the blackcap should be much varied. A paste composed 
as follows will do very well for its staple food: — Soak a 
crust of white bread in cold water for half an hour, squeeze it 
dry, put it in a pan, add half the weight of the crust, of fine 
barley meal, scrape up the weight of the meal of carrot, and 
pound the whole together till it is like a paste. They should 
be given ants and mealworms. Almost all insect-eating birds 
will relish a mealworm occasionally, so I will give you Bech- 
stein’s receipt for breeding those interesting creatures. 
