Jackdaws.—The jackdaw is tamed easily, and can be taught to say a few words. It is as alert as a terrier for visitors, and affectionate towards its friends. Jack loves a bath, and may be fed on bread and milk, oats, mice, small birds, insects, and meat.
The Jay.—The jay is not so impatient of captivity as the magpie, and will tolerate confinement in a large cage. It will eat meat, small birds, mice, insects, worms, and is particularly fond of eggs. It eats, too, much vegetable food.
The Magpie.—Do not keep a magpie unless you can give him generous room. He is a very clever talker and mimic. He is extremely fond of bathing, and a plentiful supply of water is needful to keep his beautiful plumage in good condition. The food of the magpie is the same as that of the jackdaw.
The Hedgehog.—This animal likes insects and snails, frogs and mice, and will even kill a snake, and eat it. In its wild state it sleeps all the winter, rolled up in a hole which it has filled with grass, moss, or leaves; and when tamed it will hide itself in some dark place for weeks, and never make its appearance, unless it should feel hungry. Hedgehogs destroy beetles, eating them quickly and gladly. They need no looking after, but will fend for themselves, though it is better to have a little hutch to put them into sometimes. Their feeding-time is in the night; and if there are black-beetles in the kitchen, the best plan is to leave the hedgehog there.
Silkworms.—Buy a few eggs, which should be of a lilac or grey colour. Avoid yellow ones.
The silkworm when hatched is black, and about one-fourth of an inch long. The desire for food is the first sign of life, and it is more alive then than at any other time. When about eight days have elapsed its head becomes enlarged and it turns ill, refuses food, and remains torpid for about three days. This seems to be caused by the pressure of the skin, which has become too tight. The difference in the size of the worm from the beginning to the end of the caterpillar state is such, that the worm has been provided with several skins, each of which it throws off in succession.
The silkworm feeds on the leaves of the white mulberry; or, when these cannot be obtained, upon those of the black mulberry; or even upon the leaves of the lettuce.
The eggs should be bought about the end of April and placed in trays made of pasteboard. Over the case put thin gauze. The trays may be placed in a window facing the south, where they are fully exposed to the sun, and there they should remain undisturbed till the eggs begin to hatch. As the worms appear they should be removed into other trays, and fed with the mulberry leaves. The temperature should be from sixty-six to seventy degrees, and the room ventilated, and preserved free from damp and from too much dryness. The trays should be kept clean, dead leaves and any other refuse cleared away. In moving the caterpillars from one tray to another they should not be touched by the fingers, but removed by threads of cotton passed under their bodies, or with a camel-hair brush.
The caterpillar has four moultings, which may be all over in four days each, if the heat of the room be increased to from ninety-five to one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit. When the heat is lower, the first moulting takes place on the fourth or fifth day after hatching, the second in four days more, the third in five or six days more, and the last in about eight days. Ten days more are required after this moulting, so that in about thirty-two days after hatching the caterpillar is fully grown.
