. British birds for cages and aviaries; a hanbook relating to all British birds which may be kept in confinement .. . ionally, with a little apology for anest under them. The young are fed on insects, chieflysmall caterpillars, which form the greater part of the foodof the parents too, although in winter they eat seeds andberries, and evince much cleverness in extracting the ker-nels of nuts and beech-mast, w4iich they fix securely in acrack of the bark of a branch and then drill with theirstrong beak, turning round and round as they do so toadd additional impetus to the blows they deal. If ke
. British birds for cages and aviaries; a hanbook relating to all British birds which may be kept in confinement .. . ionally, with a little apology for anest under them. The young are fed on insects, chieflysmall caterpillars, which form the greater part of the foodof the parents too, although in winter they eat seeds andberries, and evince much cleverness in extracting the ker-nels of nuts and beech-mast, w4iich they fix securely in acrack of the bark of a branch and then drill with theirstrong beak, turning round and round as they do so toadd additional impetus to the blows they deal. If kept indoors, they must be fed as recommended forthe Tits, but the cage they are put into should be entirely FOR CAGES AND A VIARIES. 45 of wire, as they would soon bore a wooden one into acongeries of holes and promptly regain their liberty. We cannot recommend amateurs to attempt the keepingof this bird, which never appears to get reconciled to con-finement, but persons living in the country can by judi-cious management succeed in taming it to a very largeextent, by the easy expedient of placing suitable food on. Nuthatches. a window-sill, or if the latter is too narrow on a trayfixed to it. This should be out of reach of cats, and beplentifully supplied with sunflower- and hemp-seed, suet,ants eggs, and filberts or walnuts extracted from theirshells. The Tits will flock to the seeds, and the Nuthatches,as well as maybe on odd Woodpecker, to the nuts, andafter a litde while, when they find that no harm is meantto them, all the birds will get very tame and even allowtheir friend to stand quite close to the shut window, 146 BRITISH BIRDS without flying away. After a little more time has elapsed,they will not scuttle off when the casement is openedand the purveyor of their good things appears at it andputs a fresh supply of dainties on the board, and thenthey will venture into the room, and become as tame,confiding, and loving as it is in the nature of these birdsto be. This is ce
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectcag
