SALVED NESTLINGS.
In answer to a query in aviculture, how to feed young swallows fallen from the nest, I have received an account of experiences with young swifts that should be helpful to anyone who brings up young birds. My correspondent became the "unwilling possessor of three young swifts who had tumbled out of their different nests at heights ranging from 30 to 60 feet from the towers of Mitchelstown Castle." The parents could not be lured to help. The young were taken away ; and, on advice, fed with raw beef. At the first attempt the bills had to be forcibly opened ; but after- wards there was no trouble at all. The meat was grabbed eagerly at once. The young flourished and grew tame ; and eventually found their wings and joined their kind on the eve of migration. The essential fact, doubtless, is that all young birds need animal food, even sparrows ; and the utility of birds depends largely on this fortunate fact.
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