14 T HE’ AU DUB ONG EB OU EL DE eae 
Care and Feeding of Injured Wild Birds 
By Mrs. WALTER HUXFORD 
MEMBERS OF THE Illinois Audubon Society will find assistance in answering 
questions absut helpless birds from the article, “We Run a Hospital for 
Birds” by Arline Thomas in the August 10, 1957, issue of the Saturday 
Evening Post. George and Arline Thomas answer calls received through 
the National Audubon Society about caring for orphan birds and helping 
injured adult ones, Their ‘‘ambulance” is a cardboard carton and their 
hospital beds are boxes covered with cotton netting. The interiors of these 
improvised cardboard cages are fitted to the species or age or injury of 
the bird occupying them. 
Mending the injured wing of a one-eyed nuthatch; hand-feeding every 
half hour three baby robins until they could fly; and rescuing a young 
kingbird from some neighborhood children who had tried unsuccessfully 
to feed him bird seed are a few of the experiences which Mrs. Thomas de- 
scribes. She and her husband even mended the broken leg of a robin with 
long match sticks and adhesive tape. These friendly bird doctors learned 
how to tape a broken wing from the bird expert at the Bronx Zoo. They 
sometimes consulted him about other difficult problems. 
Regarding care and feeding of wild birds, the author cautions with a 
few nevers. “Never put any more food into a bird’s throat until it has 
swallowed the previous morsel. Never give a baby bird water or milk from 
a medicine dropper. When they’re old enough to perch, offer water in a 
shallow dish.” The menu suggested for songbird nestlings is “. .. a basic 
food of equal parts of hard-boiled egg yolk and finely sifted bread crumbs. 
Mashed together and slightly moistened with milk or cod-liver oil, the mix- 
ture agrees with robins, catbirds, orioles, bluebirds, thrushes, tanagers 
cardinals and towhees, It is also fine for woodpeckers, flickers, sparrows, 
starlings, waxwings and other small garden birds, as well as the injured 
adults of all of these species.” 
Further information on the care and feeding of injured or orphan wild 
birds can be had from a pamphlet prepared on this subject by The Na- 
tional Audubon Society, 11530 Fifth Ave., New York 28, N.Y. 
3027 Thayer St., Evanston 
fl A ft 
Audubon Junior Clubs 
THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY is again inviting new leaders to form 
Audubon Junior Clubs among the young people of their community, School 
teachers, scout masters. Camp Fire Girl leaders, 4-H Club executives, and 
Sunday school teachers are ideal candidates as sponsors of these clubs. 
All that is needed is a leader, a group of ten or more children, an interest 
in nature, and plenty of enthusiasm. The National Audubon Society will 
provide the materials you will need to keep the children fascinated. Baeh 
month a new project sheet is distributed to each club. Some recent ones have 
been, “Let’s Adopt a. Tree,” “Let’s Have a Weather Station,” “Let’s Take 
