THE SKYLARK’S CAGE. 
days, you may add a little lean raw beef to their diet. Con- 
tinue this for a week, and then put them in a large cage, with 
about two inches of chaff spread over the bottom. Be careful 
that this chaff is renewed at least every day, or you will be 
annoyed by a disagreeable effluvia. 
They will not be able to feed themselves till they are at 
least five weeks old ; but in the meantime you may gradually 
introduce more lean beef and some crushed rape-seed into 
their food. When they are old enough to feed themselves, 
supply them with hard-boiled egg, bread, and hemp -seed, 
bruised together. After a week of this diet you may with- 
draw the egg and give the hemp -seed whole, as by this 
time the bird will doubtless be strong enough to crack them 
himself. 
The Skylark’s Cage. — It is not imperative that the lark 
should be kept in the sort of cage well known as the “ lark’s 
cage.” Any shaped cage suits the 
lark, provided it is large, open, and 
clean. A perch in the skylark’s nest 
would only be in the way, as, asleep 
or awake, he would not leave the 
bottom of his cage. It should have 
a movable wooden, bottom, which 
should be always well strewn with 
coarse sand. The vessels for his 
drink and food should be of glass, 
and placed outside the cage. 
Bechstein recommends that cages 
in which newly-caught birds are placed should not have a 
solid roof, but one of cloth, as the bird, while wild, has a 
habit of springing upward, and if the substance against which 
he strikes his head be nothing softer than wire or wood, he may 
possibly dislocate his neck. 
Above all, don’t forget the fresh green turf, at least three 
times a week. It is impossible to estimate the pleasure the 
poor bird must feel in inhaling the fragrance of the tiny patch 
of verdure, or in feeling it so cool and comfortable to his feet. 
Besides this, the insects and worms he will find in it are essen- 
tial to his health. 
How to Feed the Skylark. — The natural food of the sky- 
lark is ants’ eggs, oats, seeds of all kinds, worms, insects, young 
buds, &c., &c. Endeavour to supply him as far as possible 
with his natural food. As the staple of their diet, however, 
THE SKYLARK’S CAGE. 
