The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-05-20
Rearing wild Birds.


found 1t essential to success in rear.
Ing birds from the nest to watch the
parent bird and find what food it select
cd for Its young. That of all the 1nches,
sparrows and wrens was naked skinned
worms and grasshoppers. The indigo.
flnoh, which at first failed to rear, I
found was fed solely with white grass
hoppers q. g., with grasshoppers which
had just molted), after. which found
1t very easy to raise, and that it proved
to be a very excellent cage-bird. All
the birds fed readily upon small grass
hoppers and large.sized worms, and in
every case died after being fully grown,
from my inability to make the proper
change in their food. The flnches and
sparrows would take to seed-eating as
soon as they left the nest and their bills
were hardened. Wrens, under my OBJ
servation, fed their young almost exclu-
siyely with small, smooth Larvae, taken
from the undersides of the leaves Of our
rant bushes, bramhles. etc., and have
set for long time and counted the
worms brought to nest, the average
being five worms I'm two minutes. This
was nest Of the common house wren,
when the supply Of food was abundant
In neighboring row OF currant bushes.
These also were easily reared in the nest.
All the young birds took naturally to
water when fully grown, except the
ground or grass finch, which would
bathc only In fine sand, but would keep
Itself in excellent condition and. was a
very Interesting cagc-bird. The COM
mon rtcc-bird or bobolink was very cas-.
lily raised, fed on young grasshoppers,
took to eating seed readily, became as
tame and playful Hs kitten, and when
full grown was liable to become excess-
lively fat, and would thon often have
epileptic fits, recurring at frequent in
tervals, death always following. The
cat bird was an inveterate mimic, at
tempting to do and sing whatever it
saw or heard done by the other birds
IN Its compartments Of tho cage. The
wren was thorough busybody and
studious Of nature, Investigating with
very knowing and inquiring look
every corner and crevice of the cage
and every act Of Its associates. A pair
OF blue birds kept themselves inviolate
from all tho other birds, and were mod
els and full of lover-like attentions TO
each other. They selected place
where the pair could perch themselves
closely together, and spent :.lge part
of their time In attention to each other.
The nuthatch, when full grown, de-
lighted to find grain Of Indian corn.
which 1t would push into any crack or
crevlcc where it would hI closely, and
then would amuse Itself by hanmering
away at 1t until 1t was broken into frag-
ments suitable for its food. Tht COW
bird was an inveterate gormandizer.
1t could not be fed enough to stop Its
clanor for more, and often so fully
crammed was 1t that the last worm or
grasshopper stuck In its throat; but 1t
would still be for more, as if starving.
Taking the offered food and finding It.
self unable to swallow 1t, it would
throw 1t away with q euddcn jcrls uf
tho head, but still ask for more. Any
thing In the shape Of animal food that
it could swallow was gobbled down
and this affectation of starvation, and
its large size, sufficiently explain the
dwarting Of the other occupants Of the
| nest In which It Is foster child. 1t
would eat or waste all that any two
| birds could gather.