Wild Plants for Cage Birds - Weed and Seeds of the Field and Wayside Described - With Footnotes, etc., by G. E. Weston

R. Morse

Description

“Wild Plants for Cage Birds” is a vintage guide to the various species of weeds and windflowers of Britain. Many of these plants contain seeds that can be used as bird food, and this book offers descriptions of these plants together with instructions on how and when to extract the seeds. This volume is not to be missed by bird owners and breeders with an interest in gathering their own birdseed, and it will also be of utility to garners with an interest in plant and weed identification. Contents include: “Common Chickweed”, “Common Dandelion”, “Sow (or Milk) Thistle”, “The Sow Thistle”, “The Spear Plume Thistle”, “The Marsh Plume Thistle”, “Plantain”, “Greater Plantain”, “Ribwort Plantain”, “Eldar”, “Dewberries”, “Charlock”, “Shepherd's Purse”, “Curled Dock”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

Sujets

• Birds
• Pets

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 28 juin 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528767293
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

WILD PLANTS FOR CAGE BIRDS
WEEDS AND SEEDS OF THE FIELD AND WAYSIDE DESCRIBED

By
R. MORSE
With footnotes, etc., by G. E. Weston
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd. This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Contents
Wild Plants for Cage Birds
W ILD P LANTS FOR C AGE B IRDS
WEEDS AND SEEDS OF THE FIELD AND WAYSIDE DESCRIBED
By R. MORSE
With Footnotes, etc., by G. E. W ESTON .
IT is a generally known fact amongst bird-lovers that many wild flowers of our country have seeds which form a large part of the food of our native birds. But although the seeds are easy to obtain when the birds have their liberty, this, of course, is not the case when they are kept in cages. The object of the following series of articles is, therefore, to describe the plants which have seeds (and in some cases leaves, etc., also) which are suitable for the diet of our feathered pets. It is hoped that after reading this series many bird-keepers will be enabled to take a ramble through fields and lanes and obtain some dainty morsels for their caged friends at home; it is certain these dainty morsels will be appreciated as a pleasant change from a monotonous diet of Canary or similar dry seed. Further, many of our wild plants possess very valuable medicinal properties, and are, as is well known, largely used in compounding many of our most beneficial medicines.
Without wasting more of the reader s time with introductory remarks, I will proceed to give descriptions of a few of our commonest suitable wild plants. When these descriptions have been carefully studied, it is the confident hope of the writer that little difficulty will be experienced by the bird-keeper in recognising the common and useful plants of our hedgerows and waysides.

Two Sprays of Chickweed.
Printed direct from nature, and showing flower heads, shape of leaves, and seeds falling from bursting pods.
Common Chickweed ( Stell ria media ).
Chickweed is an exceedingly common weed, and may be found in bloom almost the whole year round. It grows generally in waste places, in fields, and in gardens. There are several other common plants known to country-folk as Chickweed, but the following description will enable the species named above to be identified.

(1) Single floret from head of Dandelion, bowing fruit (or seed) at base.
(2) Developed seed.
(3) Single floret from head of Thistle, showing fruit (or seed) at base.
(4) Developed seed.
The common Chickweed has egg-shaped leaves, which are destitute of hairs. The stems, however, which are weak and brittle, have alternate lines of hairs between each pair of leaves. This is one of the most useful points to note when trying to identify this species. The flowers are very small, white in colour, and are made up of five petals (flower leaves) which are so deeply cut up as to lend the appearance of there being ten.
As this plant is generally in bloom in nearly every month of the year, it follows naturally that its seeds are nearly always obtainable, as are also its leaves and its tender young shoots. These are all valuable foods for various cage birds. The seeds will be eaten with great relish and enjoyment by such seed-eating and part seed-eating birds as Siskins, Bullfinches, Linnets, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Skylarks and Wood-Larks, and, of course, a large number of others.
The young leaves and shoots form a very pleasant occasional change from such dry foods as seeds; moreover, they contain useful medicinal properties, and were at one time used both externally and internally for inflammation, etc.
Chickweed is recognised as one of the very best and safest of green foods by practically all keepers of birds, whether Canary, British, or Foreign. In its seeding stage it is particularly valuable. Almost all hens will feed their young freely upon it. Care should be taken never to gather it from the sides of dusty lanes, etc. (i.e., covered with road dust). This caution, indeed, applies to all the wild weeds.
Common Dandelion ( Taraxacum officinale ).
Dandelion is another very plentiful wild plant, being almost, if not quite, as abundant as the common Chickweed just described. There are large numbers of plants with yellow flowers somewhat similar to those of the Dandelion, and which are commonly called by the latter name by those who are ignorant of Botany. The plant in question, however, is not at all difficult to identify. Dandelion has no leaves on its stems (as have several similar species), but they all grow from the very base of the plant-quite flat on the ground in many cases.
The flower-stalks are hollow, and when they are broken a milky juice or sap flows out freely. The flower-heads are placed one only on each stalk-this is another feature which will help to identify this particular plant. The leaves and stalks are practically free from hairs, the latter (stalks) being quite smooth and glossy.

Dandelion.
The heads, when the seed is ripe, become globular masses of silky hairs, which children love to call One o clocks or What s o clocks. At the base of these hairs the seeds will be found, and they may be easily gathered for our cage-birds diet. Most seed-eating birds will always be delighted with a meal of Dandelion seed.

Leaf of Dandelion.
The leaves and tender shoots of this plant also are valuable green food. There is a long, thick blackish root. Various parts of the Dandelion have for many years been used remedially for diseases of the liver and kidneys.

Sow (or Milk) Thistle.
N OTE .-This is not the true Milk Thistle, which is not an indigenous species.
Dandelion is best known as a conditioner of birds for breeding purposes. Nothing is more valuable for bringing one s breeding stock up to the necessary high pitch of condition. It is relished by nearly all the seed-eaters, and especially by Goldfinches and other Muling Finches. It appears to exercise a clearing and toning effect on the system. Dandelion juice (taraxacum), as sold by chemists, is an invaluable medicine in cases of illness due to overfeeding on too-stimulating seeds or food, and in liver, kidney, and other attendant disorders.
The thistles are probably as much utilised and as well known by the bird-keeper as is dandelion. Most seed-eaters keenly appreciate a head full of ripe seed-Goldfinches and Siskins especially so. Heads containing maggots should never be overlooked-personally I consider them, during the moult, the most valuable of all. Rotting, decayed heads should never be passed by without examination; generally they are full of fat, juicy grubs, grand things for birds. Sow thistle has a particular value of its own, inasmuch as it is commonly to be found simply smothered with blight (or green fly), and over a supply of it in this condition, one s birds simply go mad with delight. A supply of newly-gathered thistle seed or thist-le heads should be laid in every autumn.
The Sow Thistle ( Sonchus oleraceus ).
Thistle seeds form a large part of the diet of many of our wild birds, and are well worth the small amount of trouble needed to gather them.
Perhaps one of the best-known species is the common Sow Thistle, which is a favourite food for rabbits. It grows in waste places, and as a weed in many gardens, and is sometimes called the Milk Thistle, it having a milky juice.
It grows to a height of from two to three feet, and has a hollow stem, prickly leaves, and yellow flowers. The leaves, however, are soft, and can be easily handled without pricking the fingers, which is not usually the case with the other thistles. The whole plant is generally free from hairs.
When the seeds are ripe, roundish silky masses of hairs appear, and these somewhat resemble those of the dandelion, but are usually smaller.