Daisy Violet M.
I noticed Sidney B. P.'s question about feeding and caring for young mocking-birds. Blackberries are good food for them when they are about three weeks old. The yolk of an egg boiled hard and mashed fine with a boiled Irish potato is also good. Feed the birds about every hour, and after they are through eating give them about a tea-spoonful of fresh water, which you will have to pour down their throats.
When the birds are very young they must not be put in a wire cage, as they will injure themselves fluttering against the bars. Put them in a small box, with a piece of mosquito netting fastened over the top. Do not take them from the nest too young—never until they are eight or ten days old—as they will die.
I have already asked to exchange stamps with the readers of Young People, and I would like the following stamp, if any one can send it to me: United States War Department, ninety cents, red.
Harry S. Kealhofer,
121 Adams Street, Memphis, Tennessee.
Fannie T. D., of Atlanta, Georgia, sends the following additional directions for the care of full-grown mocking birds:
Fruits and minced raw beef are good food for them. The cage, which should be large, must be thoroughly cleaned every day, and supplied with fresh water and sand. A little bag of sulphur fastened in the top of the cage tends to keep the birds healthy. And they will always sing better if confined in separate cages. Mocking-birds require much attention, especially when they are moulting.