BRITISH BIRDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18786, 15 June 1929, Page 26 (Supplement)

BRITISH BIRDS.

THEIR TRAINING AND FEEDING.

(By

J. B. Caunt

in “Cage Bird

Annual.”). (Continued.) Cultivating Confidence. —Before long you will notice that you are succeeding, and then you can begin to give the birds more of your company, gradually doing this as you progress. It is just at this time that many birds are spoilt. They career about the perches, looking to the back of the cages all the time, and if allowed to continue this practice they will never recover from the habit. This is where the ‘‘confidence trick” comes in. We will assume that everything is going along quite nicely. The v bird should now be subjected to a course of treatment in a slightly smaller cage, not so deep as the first. Give it plenty of your company, handle the cage, talk to it gently and frequently, and get it fairly used to a seed diet. This brings us to the second section of our story. On the question of food depends to a very great extent the suc-

cess of our birds. Far too little care is taken in this matter. No properly thought out feeding regimen is adopted, and seed, too, is bought anywhere and anyhow’. Here again is where the student of wild life with his inborn gift of keen observation of birds in their natural haunts scores. Show me w’hat kind of vegetation exists in the countryside, at the time of the season, and I will tell you what kind of birds you will find. Where their particular kind of food is, there you will find the species of birds you desire; but it must be plainly understood that the seeds of commerce are not the seeds we find in the countryside. We have got to balance this against nature. I have no expert knowledge of the scientific nature of seeds, but one must always study quality of seeds and variety, so it is up to British bird keepers to deal with firms that have variety, a quick turnover, and who study the storage accommodation of their goods in bulk. Seeds must be as fresh as possible, w’ell harvested, and not chemically cured. In making up your feeds for British birds one has to use a mixture or blend of various seeds, and it is just the happy combination of these that calls for the utmost discrimination. What would be ideal for some species would be fatal to success with others. Take the linnet and the greenfinch, two of the most widely kept birds and well known to nearly everyone. To feed both alike would be absolute murder to the first named. Linnets are not such vigorous l and rich feeders as greenfinches, and the same may be said of goldfinches. I have experimented extensively these last few years with a view to ascertaining the ideal and most beneficial feeding routine for linnets and greenfinches. Has it never struck you as curious that in spite of the huge numbers of linnets which are caught each season one rarely sees the same bird on the bench for two successive years? (To be Continued).