Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/205

Doves and pigeons, when young, do not open their mouths like other birds, but they will keep their bills firmly closed and run them between your fingers, flapping their wings and making a whistling noise.

To feed a squab, its mouth must be opened by taking the sides of the bill between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, and gently pinching it at the base until the mouth opens; then push an oblong pellet of bread softened with milk between the mandibles. You will always be successful in rearing squabs in this manner. Bread softened with sweet milk, or boiled potatoes mixed with eggs, is a healthy diet for many young birds.

The prepared food sold at bird-stores under the name of mocking-bird food I have discovered to be almost universally relished by insectivorous birds after they are old enough to feed themselves. As soon as a young bird can hop around, supply it with plenty of water to bathe in, at least once or twice a day; if you keep your pet's surroundings neat, the bird will not fail to keep its little person tidy and trim. The ground or grass finch will not bathe in water, but performs his ablutions in dust or fine sand, and a supply of sand should be provided.

There is often a third party interested in the construction of all small birds' nests—a homeless, happy-go-lucky Bohemian bird, who has a sort of tramp's interest in the housekeeping arrangements of most of the smaller feathered denizens of copse and wood. This is the well-known cow blackbird, who disdains to shackle her freedom with the care of a family, and shifts a mother's responsibility by farming her progeny out, while she seeks the incongruous but apparently congenial com-