Although we do not advocate keeping English birds in con- finement as a rule, it will sometimes happen that nestlings will be thrown upon our compassion, which have either fallen out of their nest, lost their parents, or have been taken captive by village boys, and are likely to come to a miserable end if not taken care of. Under these circumstances it is as well to know how to bring them up by hand. We once had several nests to DOMESTIC PETS. ^^3 take care of, and all the young birds were reared and sent out into the world when able to take care of themselves; all but two bullfinches, which were given to a neighbor, who fed them upon hemp-seed — the consequence of which was that nearly all of their feathers fell off, and they were the most miserable little objects that can be conceived, and their little red-hot bodies were quite uncomfortable to touch. A course of warm baths and plenty of cooling green food, however, restored them to health and beauty, and they were returned to their owner with a warning against hemp-seed. It is said that a bullfinch fed entirely upon this heating feed will become blind. Nestlings. — Nestlings should be fed upon bread soaked in water, squeezed nearly dry, and chopped up finely with rape- seed which has been scalded by pouring boiling water upon i✪ Nestling Foodt, and leaving it till quite cold. Of course this food must be made fresh every day; if it grew sour it would kill the birds at once. About four quills full of it is enough for a meal for one young bird; but they generally clamor for food till they have enough, and then settle down to sleep again. They must be fed as soon as possible in the morning after sunrise, and will require food at intervals of from one hour and three-quarters to two hours throughout the day, the last meal being given about sunset, when they must be covered up for the night. The best plan is to keep the nest in a shallow box, over which a board can be laid to darken it, otherwise the birds will be asking for food every quarter of an hour. As soon as they hear a step in the room they begin to chirp; and when the box is uncovered they will stretch out their necks, and as they grow older jump out of the nest, and fly upon the hand or shoulder in their impatience for food. In time they will learn to feed themselves with the soft food, and by degrees pick up and shell the seed put into their cage; for, of course, they must be put into a cage as soon as they are fledged sufficiently to en- able them to fly. It is best to crush the hemp-seed for them at first, but they soon learn to shell the canary and rape-seed. The linnets and greenfinches we brought up by hand were very tame, and, although seed and water were always within their reach, we accustomed them to be fed by hand, and kept any food of which they were particularly fond — hemp-seed, ^34 JDOMESTIC PETS.

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Although we do not advocate keeping English birds in confinement as a rule, it will sometimes happen that nestlings will be thrown upon our compassion, which have either fallen out of their nest, lost their parents, or have been taken captive by village boys, and are likely to come to a miserable end if not taken care of. Under these circumstances it is as well to know how to bring them up by hand. We once had several nests to take care of, and all the young birds were reared and sent out into the world when able to take care of themselves; all but two bullfinches, which were given to a neighbor, who fed them upon hemp-seed — the consequence of which was that nearly all of their feathers fell off, and they were the most miserable little objects that can be conceived, and their little red-hot bodies were quite uncomfortable to touch. A course of warm baths and plenty of cooling green food, however, restored them to health and beauty, and they were returned to their owner with a warning against hemp-seed. It is said that a bullfinch fed entirely upon this heating feed will become blind. Nestlings. — Nestlings should be fed upon bread soaked in water, squeezed nearly dry, and chopped up finely with rapeseed which has been scalded by pouring boiling water upon it, and leaving it till quite cold. Of course this food must be made fresh every day; if it grew sour it would kill the birds at once. About four quills full of it is enough for a meal for one young bird; but they generally clamor for food till they have enough, and then settle down to sleep again. They must be fed as soon as possible in the morning after sunrise, and will require food at intervals of from one hour and three-quarters to two hours throughout the day, the last meal being given about sunset, when they must be covered up for the night. The best plan is to keep the nest in a shallow box, over which a board can be laid to darken it, otherwise the birds will be asking for food every quarter of an hour. As soon as they hear a step in the room they begin to chirp; and when the box is uncovered they will stretch out their necks, and as they grow older jump out of the nest, and fly upon the hand or shoulder in their impatience for food. In time they will learn to feed themselves with the soft food, and by degrees pick up and shell the seed put into their cage; for, of course, they must be put into a cage as soon as they are fledged sufficiently to enable them to fly. It is best to crush the hemp-seed for them at first, but they soon learn to shell the canary and rape-seed. The linnets and greenfinches we brought up by hand were very tame, and, although seed and water were always within their reach, we accustomed them to be fed by hand, and kept any food of which they were particularly fond — hemp-seed,

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Nestling Food

The housekeeper's companion