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.
Frank K., of Norfolk, Virginia, writes that mocking-birds are fond of the yolk of a hard-boiled egg mixed with Indian meal, made fresh every morning. They will like the food still better if it is moistened with a little milk, and minced raw beef mixed with it now and then. The cage should be hung in a dry, airy place.
MERCED CITY, COLORADO.
When I read in YOUNG PEOPLE what T. H. said of his early morning-glories, I thought I would tell about my vines. I have two play houses covered with them. The first thing in the morning I run to see if I have any new colors blossomed. The flower I like best is white with blue spots. One side of my play house is covered with dwarf vines. Mamma calls them convolvulus. I am seven years old.
ELIZA A. A.
So many of our young readers are studying French that we do not give a translation of the following letter:
MILLDALE, KENTUCKY.
Je suis une petite fille de douze ans. Je demeure a la campagne dans une jolie petite maison sur une cote. En bas de la cote il y a une riviere dans l'aquelle mon gros chien va se baigner. Il s'appelle Moka. Je joue a la cache avec lui. Quand je lui met un morceae du pain sur son nez, je compte un, deux, trois, alors il le jette en l'air et le rattrape quand il redescend. II y a tant de choses qu'il fait que je ne puis pas vous dire tout.
J'ai aussi une chatte que j'appelle Minette. Quand elle attrape une souris, elle vient nous la montrer, et il faut que nous l'applaudissions de ce qu'elle a fait.
J'ai lu beaucoup des journaux du petit monde. Une demoiselle me les a donne, et je vous assure que je les trouve bien interessants.
MADELAINE.
GREENFIELD, ILLINOIS.
One day last week we found a strange-looking insect, which I should like to know the name of. It is about three inches long. It has four long legs near the middle of its body, very bright eyes, and two horns. It is just the color of the branch of the tree where we found it. I have a collection of shells, stones, and insects, and am going to make a tree album.
JESS L. B.
This curious insect probably belongs to the _Ambulatoria_, or walking-stick family, of which several varieties are found in America.
SCOTTSVILLE, NEW YORK.
I send a recipe for cake to Puss Hunter's cooking club: One beaten egg, one cup of sugar, one cup of sour cream, two cups of flour, one tea-spoonful of soda, a little grated nutmeg; bake in little tins.
MARY L. MCV.
I will exchange a little of the soil of Iowa for a little soil from any other State.
If the little correspondent in Denmark would send me a specimen of Danish soil, I would be very much pleased.
CLARA SCOFIELD, P. O. Box 59, Washington, Iowa.
I would like to exchange postmarks with any boy or girl in the United States or Canada. I have a very large assortment from nearly all the States of the Union.
CHARLES J. LIVINGOOD, Care of Dr. James C. Livingood, Womelsdorf, Pa.
I am a reader of YOUNG PEOPLE, and like it very much. I am thirteen years old. My father is Register of Deeds for Coos County, and I help him. I can record ten deeds in a day. And I can cook and do all kinds of housework.
I would like to exchange pressed ferns or flowers with any readers of YOUNG PEOPLE. I also have about twenty-five plants, and would like to exchange slips. I have a small collection of birds' eggs, containing about twenty varieties, and would gladly increase my collection by exchange.
FRANK B. FLANDERS, P. O. Box 630, Lancaster, New Hampshire.
When our correspondents request an exchange of delicate and perishable things, like slips of plants, it would be well for them to state a safe way of forwarding them.
I find YOUNG PEOPLE a very useful little paper.
I will exchange six specimens of Nantucket sea-weeds, mounted on paper, for six pressed wild flowers from California or Florida. Or I will exchange sea-weeds for birds' eggs or flower seeds. I am ten years old.
ETHEL M. JOHNSON, Nantucket, Massachusetts.
I have a nice collection of beetles, and would like to exchange with some correspondent in the Eastern States.
S. B., Office of _Journal of Commerce_, 414 Clay Street, San Francisco, California.
ALBERT M.--We have not yet published any such description.
BESSY.--Yes, you may send the history of your dolls. If it is interesting, and not too long, we will try to print it in the Post-office Box.
G. W. D.--Any number of HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE can be obtained by sending full address, and amount in clean postage stamps, to Harper & Brothers.