In confinement, by giving him at first some earth or meal worms, and in the autumn elderberries, he soon gets accustomed to eat anything: he picks up crumbs of bread, the little fibres of meat, and the like, but cheese appears his favourite food. When hopping about the bird-room he likes the universal paste very much[93]. He chiefly requires a regular supply of fresh water, both for drinking and bathing; and he makes himself so wet as to conceal the colours of his plumage. BREEDING.--The red-breast lays twice a year. The nest, placed near the ground, either among moss, in the crevices of stones, among the roots of a tree, or in the hole of an old felled trunk, is carelessly formed of moss, lined with fine hay, hair, and feathers. She lays from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white, with lines and spots joined and mixed together of a reddish colour; the colours become deeper as the spots approach the large end, where they form a crown of a light brown colour. The young birds are at first covered with yellow down, like chickens, they then become grey, and their feathers are edged with dusky yellow; they do not acquire the orange red till they have moulted. They are easily reared on white bread soaked in boiled milk. When their cage is placed beside a nightingale they acquire some parts of his song, which, introduced into their own, make a very pretty mixture. DISEASES.--Their most common disorder is diarrhoea, for which some spiders are administered. Decline is often cured with plenty of ants' eggs and meal-worms; but indigestion often proves fatal, especially when it arises from having eaten too many earth-worms. It may, however, be cured by making the bird swallow spiders and meal-worms. MODE OF TAKING.--In spring, when the red-breasts frequent the hedges and bushes, sticks are passed transversely through them, on which limed twigs are fastened, then two persons gently beat the hedge or bush to drive the birds towards the twigs, where they are soon caught, for red-breasts have the habit of perching on all the little low projecting branches, in order that they may discover earth-worms. This sort of red-breast chase is very common in Thuringia, where many persons keep them. Limed twigs may also be put in a bare place with earth or meal-worms, just as for the dunnock. The small nightingale net and the white-throat trap catch many. They are also caught at the water trap; but the greatest number are caught in autumn with the noose, baited with elderberries, which are at that season their favourite food. If they are caught for the room (and it is a pity to hunt so pretty a bird for the table), it is necessary, in order to preserve their feet, to cover the springes with felt or cork.