their true purpose. That is to say, you really ought to wind their
silk carefully. Few owners of silkworms in this country seem to
trouble to do this. Silkworms' eggs can be bought of any naturalist,
or some one who keeps silkworms will willingly give you some. The time
is about the end of April. They are usually laid on scraps of paper,
and these you put in shallow paper and cardboard trays covered with
gauze, and place them in the room where the sun can reach them. As the
worms hatch out you must move them--it is done best with a small paint
brush--to another tray or trays and keep them supplied with fresh
mulberry leaves or lettuce. The worms continue to grow for about a
month, and then, when full-sized, they prepare to spin. You may know
that this time is reached by their refusal to eat, and you must then
make a little paper toilet, about two inches deep, for each worm, and
drop it in. You have now nothing to do (except to watch the worms
regularly) for some weeks, in which time the cocoon has been finished
and the worm has become a chrysalis. When the chrysalis inside the
cocoon rattles the time has come to wind the silk, or the moth will
shortly emerge and eat it. The outside of the cocoon is useless and
can be removed by placing the cocoon in warm water. Once that is out
of the way, the silk can be wound on a card. The moth soon afterward
appears and, after growing to its full size, lays its eggs--some two
hundred--and dies. It must be remembered that with silkworms a little
practical demonstration from any one who has kept them is worth much
more than many pages of hints. One thing is of the highest importance,
and that is constant attention. Silkworms must never be neglected.
Other Caterpillars
Silkworms are more useful but not more interesting than many other
caterpillars which can be hatched from eggs. The Privet Hawk Moth, for
example, is very easily bred, and a very beautiful creature it is when
in full plumage. But for information on this subject you must go to
more scientific books.
Pigeons
Pigeons are not exactly pets, for they rarely do more than come to you
for their food, just as chickens do, but they are beautiful creatures
and no country roof is quite complete without them, and a dove-cot is
a very pretty and homely old-fashioned object. Usually, however, the
birds are given a portion of a loft. Whatever the nature of their
home, it must have separate compartments for each pair of pigeons and
must be warm. If a loft is used there should be sand or gravel on the
floor, with a little lime to assist the formation of the shells of the
pigeons' eggs. The place should be kept clean, and you must guard
against rats and cats. Pigeons eat peas and pigeons'-beans and most
kinds of grain. If they fly loose they will find out other food, such
as green meat, for themselves. But if you keep them at home you ought
to give them some. They should have a dish of water in a regular
place. New pigeons should be shut up by wiring in their house for a
fortnight before you give them their liberty, or they will fly away.
They do not care for hay or straw in their boxes, but will make a nest
in their own way when they need one. Pigeons are of many kinds, the
commonest of which is perhaps the Runt, and the prettiest a white
Fantail. Any one who takes up pigeons except merely for the pleasure
of owning one or two should read up the subject carefully.
Doves
Doves, which are happier when kept in pairs, require the same food as
pigeons. As a rule they are kept in wicker cages. They are not very
interesting.
Parrots
Parrots are most companionable pets, and, next to a dog, quite the
most interesting and intelligent. They are always cheerful: whistling,
singing, and talking. The gray parrot is the best talker, and speaks
much more distinctly than any other kind, but the Blue-fronted Amazon
is more amusing and far better-tempered as a rule. These birds are
very beautiful, with bright green plumage and touches of yellow and
red, and a blue patch on the forehead. The best food for parrots is
parrot seed, on which they may be fed entirely, and they should never
be allowed dainties except nuts, fruit, and a little piece of sugar.
In the summer time sprinkle your parrot with water through a fine hose
every morning, but in the winter do so only when he asks for a bath by
trying to get into the water basin. As to talking, parrots will pick
up far more readily any words they hear by accident than any that you
set yourself to teach them. They will also get by heart in this way a
few bars of a whistled tune. When parrots are apparently spiteful it
often proceeds much more from nervousness than from vice. If
frightened they will peck anything near them. It is important to have
a thick baize cover for your parrot's cage, and to put this over it
directly the lamps are lit.
Smaller Cage Birds
Before coming to the different kinds of birds which you can keep, a
few general words about their care ought to be said. Remember that
with them, as with all pets, the most important of all rules is
perfect cleanliness. The best cages are wooden ones with unpainted
wires, and the perches should be of different thicknesses, as, if they
are all one size, the bird is likely to get cramp in his feet. Once in
a week at least the perches and tray should be scrubbed with very hot
water with soda in it, but they must be dried thoroughly before they
are put back into the cage; therefore if possible it is best to have
two sets of perches and to use them alternately. A thick layer of red
sand or shell gravel should be sprinkled on the tray, and occasionally
a pinch of maw-seed thrown on it.
Baths
All birds should have a bath given them. They like best a shallow
glass dish, which should be put in the cage when the tray is out. It
is a good plan to put a biscuit-tin lid on the floor of the cage to
prevent the bird from making the woodwork wet. Other rules in the care
of all birds are--never let them be in a draught, but do not keep
them in a very warm place. Cover them with a white cloth at night, and
in cold weather put a shawl over that.
Food
Seed-eating birds do best if they are fed on canary seed and a little
summer rape, with now and then a few hemp-seeds, some Hartz mountain
bread, and a bit of groundsel or water-cress that has been well
washed. If they look dull and sit in a puffed-up little heap, a drop
of brandy in their water often does good; and, should they show signs
of asthma, try chopped, hard-boiled egg, with a few grains of cayenne
pepper, and a bit of saffron or a rusty nail in the water. These are
also good when the bird is moulting. For insect-eating birds you must
buy meal-worms and ants' eggs, and thrushes and blackbirds need
earth-worms as well.
Tricks
Some birds are easily taught tricks. We remember a red-poll who would
draw his water up from a well in the cage in a little bucket; but if
you teach your bird to do this you must be careful to watch him, in
case the string gets twisted and the bucket does not reach the water,
when your pet will suffer terribly from thirst. He will also learn to
pull his seed-box up an inclined board if you put it day by day a
little farther from him, so that he must draw the string to get his
food. It is better to take a long time in training birds, and tempt
them with any dainty they care most for, such as water-cress,
groundsel, chickweed, or hemp-seed, as otherwise you must starve the
bird first, or he will not trouble to get the seed. This means a
certain amount of cruelty and cannot be right.
Canaries
The favorite cage-bird is the canary, which, though a foreign bird, is
kept in this country in greater numbers than any other bird, and is
also bred here. One has to be very well posted up in the nature of the
bird to be protected against deception when buying it; and you ought
therefore, in getting a canary, to find some one competent to buy what
you want.
Canaries must be kept carefully. They cannot stand much air. Be
particular that the cage does not hang in a draught, and let it be
large enough for comfort. When evening comes it is kinder to take the
cage out of a room in which there will be much light and noise, and
put it somewhere dark and quiet, as the air of a room where gas is
burned is not good for it. But if moving the cage is not convenient,
lower it to a position below the level of the burners and cover it up
with a thick cloth. By day the cage should be hung in the sunshine if
possible, but if the sun is very hot a green gauze cover ought to
protect the bird a little. If the bird's singing is too lusty--as
sometimes happens--a handkerchief thrown over the cage will check it;
but this seems rather hard treatment.
In feeding canaries follow the rules on p. 356, but you may put a lump
of sugar between the bars now and then, or a sprig of groundsel or
water-cress. Do not give them cake; it is no real kindness.
When they are moulting, canaries (and other birds too) need rather
more attention. Give them a little richer food, such as chopped-up
eggs, and put some saffron in the water. There is a kind of insect
called the red mite which often attacks canaries. It is not the rule
by any means that canaries should be thus troubled--many escape--but
it may happen. If you cannot account for the bird's despondency in any
other way, catch it and look at its skin under the feathers of the
breast and the under part of the wings. If there are little red spots,
it means that the red mites have found out the cage, and you must wash
the bird every day with a weak solution of white precipitate
powder--about twelve grains to a small glass of warm water--and either
wash the cage too with a stronger solution, or, if it is a wooden one,
destroy it. Now and then you ought to clip their claws, if they seem
too long.
The Love-Birds
The love-birds feed almost entirely on millet or canary seed, and they
like a sod of grass in their cage. They are bright little birds, but
are naturally very wild and need much petting if you wish to tame
them. Once tamed, however, they are very confiding and amusing.
The Cardinal
One of the most beautiful of cage-birds is the red-crested cardinal.
He is quite hardy and eats seeds and insects impartially, thriving on
canary, millet, and a little hemp-seed, with meal-worms now and then.
He should always have a very large cage, or he will spoil his plumage.
His song is sweet and strong.
Wax-Bills
Wax-bills eat millet-seed, canary seed, and a little soaked bread and
sponge-cake.
Other Foreign Birds
Java sparrows are pretty creatures, although they do very little for
you. Perhaps the most attractive of small foreign birds is the
avadavat, a tiny, perky little soldier. These live quite comfortably
together; and indeed, if it is permitted, you should certainly, for
the non-singing birds, have a large cage and keep many such birds in
it rather than put them in small cages. They will be far happier.
The Chaffinch
The chaffinch has to re-learn his song every spring, and for a
fortnight or more you will hear him trying his voice very sweetly and
softly, but as soon as he has acquired his song in perfection, it will
be so strong and piercing that on fine days he often has to be
banished from the sitting-room. He should not, however, be exposed too
much to sun and wind; a cloth thrown over half the cage will make a
shelter. The chaffinch is another bird that should never be put in a
bell-shaped cage. He should occasionally have flies and other insects
given him. He is lively and hardy and a very gay companion.
The Goldfinch
We remember a goldfinch that became very tame, perching on his owner's
hands and taking seed from her lips. Goldfinches should never be kept
in bell-shaped cages--which make them giddy--but should have one with
a square flat top. Along this they will run head downward. They are
such active birds that they need plenty of space. They chatter all day
long and are very cheery, and they are very beautiful in their brown,
gold, and scarlet coats. In a wild state the goldfinch feeds chiefly
on the seeds of weeds and thistles, groundsel, and dandelion, and he
is therefore a friend to the farmer, but in captivity be will thrive
on canary and German rape with several hemp-seeds daily, and now and
then lettuce, thistle-seed, and fruit.
The Bullfinch
The bullfinch is squarely built, with a black head and pink breast. No
bird can be more affectionate and intelligent. He will learn to pipe
tunes if you put him in the dark and whistle a few bars of some easy
melody to him over and over again; and he soon gets a number of
fascinating tricks. After a while you will be able to let him out of
the cage at meal-times, when he will hop about from plate to plate and
steal little tit-bits. No bird is so fond of sitting on its owner's
shoulder as the bullfinch can be. Also, unhappily, few birds are so
liable to fatal illness. A bullfinch can be apparently quite well one
minute and the next you find him lying at the bottom of the cage.
Over-eating is often the cause of his death, so that one must be
careful. Hemp-seed and apple-pips, for instance, which he loves,
should be given in moderation. Rape and millet, lettuce and ripe fruit
suit him best. Gardeners are great enemies of this sturdy little bird
on account of the damage he does amongst fruit-trees, but he probably
does a great deal more good than he does harm by eating insects which
are fatal to plants.
The Yellow Bunting
The yellow bunting (or yellow hammer) can be a pet; and he has the
sweetest little whispering song. If you have a caged bunting, his seed
should be soaked in cold water for some hours before it is given to
him, and he must have the yoke of a hard-boiled egg, meal-worms, ants'
eggs, and any insects you can catch for him. He must also have plenty
of opportunities for bathing, and as much fresh air without draughts
as possible.
The Blackbird
The blackbird is delicate when caged and must have plenty of
nutritious food, bread and milk, boiled vegetables, ripe fruit,
insects, and snails. He is a thirsty bird and needs plenty of water.
Birds of all kinds especially like cocoanut (though they will come to
the window-sill simply for bread crumbs). The cocoanut should be sawn
in two, and a hole bored through each half, about an inch from the
edge. A strong string is then threaded in and they are hung from the
bough of a tree. They should be hung rather high up, on a bough
reaching as far out from the trunk as possible, so as to avoid all
risk from the cat. The birds frequent elm-trees more than any others,
because the rough bark contains many insects, but you may choose any
kind of tree, as close to your windows as you like. The birds will
keep pecking at the cocoanut all day long and will soon want a new
one. If you have no tree near the house you might fasten a cord across
the outer frame of your window and tie the pieces of nut to that. The
birds would soon find out the cocoa-nut and come to it, and bread
crumbs could also be put on the window-sill to attract them. Or, if
you have a veranda, they could be hung up there, if you could make
them safe from the cat. Mrs. Earle, in her book _More Pot-Pourri from
a Surrey Garden_, gives elaborate directions for an arrangement in a
veranda or balcony of cocoanuts, etc., for the birds. Lumps of fat
will do as well as cocoanut. Some birds also greatly love a bone to
pick at--an uncooked one with plenty of fat on it, which the butcher
will probably be glad to give you if you ask him and explain its
purpose. It can be hung up in a tree or merely laid on the
window-sill.
The Robin
In the ordinary way one would not keep robins at all. They are so tame
and fond of the company of human beings that they will come regularly
to the door for crumbs every morning and never be far off at any time.
But if a wounded robin is found or a nest is abandoned (probably owing
to the death of the mother at the cat's hands) just before the young
birds are ready to fly, you might pop them in a cage. They do not
often thrive long in captivity, even if the confinement does not seem
irksome, but to keep one until it was strong enough to be let loose
would be a kindness. Still there have been many cases of happy tame
robins. The best food for them is bread crumbs, grated carrot, yoke of
egg and sponge-cake mixed together, the carrot making the mixture
moist enough. A few insects daily are advisable. Robins are such
quarrelsome birds that it is impossible to keep two of them in an
aviary, or even to keep one robin with birds weaker than himself.
Perhaps the best way to treat a pet robin is to let him fly all over
the house in the winter. He may one day fly away altogether in the
spring, but if he is alive he is almost certain to come back again
when the cold weather begins.
Garden Robins
Robins in the garden are so pretty, so cheeky, so sweetly musical, and
are so friendly to man (in spite of their arrogance and selfishness
among birds) that they ought to be encouraged. As the only way of
encouraging wild birds is to feed them, we have to try and give them
what they like best. Robins are quite content with bread crumbs only.
They will eat sop if they can get nothing else; but they prefer
crumbs, and not too dry. For an especial treat they like fat bacon
beyond everything: cooked bacon, that has been boiled, not fried. It
should be mixed up very small, and the bread also crumbled into tiny
morsels, for robins like to eat very nicely and daintily. Robins are
pleased to have crumbs given them all the seasons through, though in
the autumn they can very well take care of themselves.
Each robin has his own special domain, which any other robin invades
at his peril. The robins that come to the window for food are those
that belong to that particular side of the house and no other. This
means that there are other robins is different parts of the garden
which will have to be fed in their own special localities. You will
soon find out where these are, even if you have not already been
guided to them by their songs. Robins like their food scattered always
in the same place, or under the same tree, and, as nearly as you can,
at the same time. Then you will find them on the lookout for you, and
if you take always the same basket (a rather shallow flat one which
stands firmly) and, putting it on the ground, go a few steps away, you
will see them hop into it. After a few days they will probably get
tame enough to come into the basket while it is in your hand; only you
must have a little patience at first, and hold it very still, and of
course you must not have previously scattered any food on the ground.
Birds in the Garden
This brings us to the other garden birds which we have no wish to put
in cages, but which it is well to be as kind to as possible. In
winter, when there is a frost, to feed them is absolutely necessary;
but at all times it is well that they should know that you are not
enemies (of which they have so many), but their friends. The following
notes, together with the foregoing passage on feeding robins, on birds
in the garden have been prepared far this book:--
"Birds are grateful all the year through for a shallow pan of water,
which they can drink from and use also as a bath. And the bees, too,
will be glad to come and get a sip of water, for they also are thirsty
things. A small round yellow earthenware pan is excellent for the
thrushes and blackbirds, but it is as well to provide a smaller one,
say an ordinary shallow pie-dish, for the robins and little birds.
These should be refilled twice a day, at least, in summer time. You
can place the pans on the grass or path, where you can see them
comfortably from the house, but not nearer than you can help, because
the blackbirds are rather shy, and it would be a pity to make drinking
too great an adventure for them.
"Birds are thankful for a little feeding right through the spring,
both when the mother bird is sitting on the nest and the father has to
forage for two, and when the young ones are hatched and there are at
once many more mouths to fill. In the summer too, if it should be
unduly wet and cold, or unduly hot and dry, and grubs and insects
scarce, the young birds are pleased to find a meal ready for them. But
in the winter it is a positive duty to feed the birds; for remember
that when the ground is covered with snow, or frozen hard, they can
get no insects, and thus, after all the berries have gone, they will
starve unless they are helped with other food.
"Almost every household has enough waste scraps, if they are collected
carefully, to give the birds a good meal once a day. Bread, of course,
will form the chief part, but nothing comes amiss to them, however
tiny. Morsels of suet, dripping, shreds of fat, meat, and fish, and
cheese rind also, all mixed up together, are an especial treat. The
mince should be well mixed with the bread crumbs, or all may not get a
fair share. Crusts, or any hard, dry bits of bread, can be scalded
into sop (though, unlike chickens, wild birds do not seem to like it
hot), and a little piece of dripping or fat, soaked with the sop,
makes it more tasty for them. If the supply of bread be short, the
birds will be very pleased with chickens' rice. It should be the
'second quality' kind, in the brown husk, which can be procured from
most corn-dealers. But this is hardly necessary excepting in a long
hard frost. Starlings are especially fond of bones, and they will
esteem it a favor if any which have been used in making soup, and are
not required for the dog, are thrown out to them on the ground. Their
joyous chattering over them is quite cheering, even on the dreariest
winter's day. They are also grateful for the rind of a ham or piece of
bacon, after it has been boiled. This should be thrown out to them
whole, not cut up in little pieces. They are equally fond of the bones
and skin remains of a 'dried' haddock.
"For the bolder birds, such as robins, you will like to put some food
on the window-sills, and also on the path or grass close to the house.
But remember the more timid ones, and scatter it in other parts of the
garden as well.
"Sparrows, of course, deserve their food as well as any of the others;
but it is rather hard to see them taking every morning much more than
their share, while the less courageous or impudent birds (who also
sing to you) get none. It seems impossible to prevent this, though Mr.
Phil. Robinson, in his book _Garden, Orchard, and Spinney_ (in the
chapter entitled 'The Famine is my Garden'), recommends scattering
some oatmeal mixed with a few bread crumbs on one side of the house,
to keep the sparrows occupied, whilst you feed the other birds
elsewhere. Sparrows, however, have a way of being on every side of the
house at once. Still, if you feed your birds daily, and as nearly at
the same time as possible (they like it as soon as may be after your
own breakfast), you will find them on the lookout for you, and they
will manage to get a good share, if they all start fair, in spite of
the sparrows. In a hard frost they are thankful for a second meal, but
it should not be later than two o'clock, because birds go to bed very
early in cold weather, and the food would be frozen too hard for them
to be able to eat it next morning.
"One word more. There is great danger of birds being caught by a cat
while they are busy with their food, especially if near the bushes.
The only possible protection against this which you can take is to see
that your own cat is indoors and is therefore not the offender."
READING
All persons who care very much for reading will find their way
naturally to the books most likely to please them; left alone in a
library they are never disappointed. For them no advice is necessary.
Nor is advice important to those who have opportunities to compare
notes on reading with friends who have similar tastes. For instance,
two boys may fall to talking of books. "Have you read _David
Balfour_?" one will say. "No; who's it by?" "Stevenson." "What else
did he write?" "Well, he wrote _Treasure Island_." "I've read that. If
_David Balfour_ is anything like that, I must get it." He gets it; and
thus, either by asking others whose taste he can trust, or by going
steadily on through each author who satisfies him, he will always have
as much good reading as he needs.
But there are still other readers--who have no real instinct for
books, or no memory for authors' names, or few opportunities of
comparing notes--for whom a list of books that are worth trying, books
which have been tested and found all right by thousands of readers,
ought to be very useful. In the following pages a list of this kind
has been drawn up. It is very far indeed from anything like
completeness--many good authors are not mentioned at all, and others
have written many more books than are here placed under their
names--but those chosen are in most cases their best, and it will be
very easy for readers who want more to find out other titles. The
books named are for the most part not new. But before children read
new books they read old; the new ones come later. What is suggested
here is a ground-work. Moreover, there are so many ways for new books
to suggest themselves that to attempt the impossible task of keeping
pace with them here was unnecessary.
Girls are such steady readers of what are called boys' books, and boys
are occasionally so much interested in what are called girls' books,
that the two groups have not been separated. All that has been done is
to describe the nature of each division of stories.
Fairy Tales
Nearly all the best old fairy tales are to be found in Mr. Andrew
Lang's collections, of which six are mentioned:--
The Blue Fairy Book.
The Red Fairy Book.
The Pink Fairy Book.
The Green Fairy Book.
The Yellow Fairy Book.
The Orange Fairy Book.