MOULTING ON COLOUR-FOOD 



167 



Seed Food. 



of oil that we advised to each pound of 

 pepper ; one ounce per pound will be sulli- 

 cient. 



There is no mistake about the birds 

 being fond of a good well-prepared colour- 

 food, but whilst on this 

 diet they should be given 

 seed as well ; that is, canary as a stajile 

 seed — of which the birds shoiUd alwaj's 

 have a supply — together with a little 

 linseed, and occasionally a sprinkling of 

 German rape. A few ripe seed stalks of 

 plantain may also be allowed, which should 

 be fixed between the wires of the cage two 

 or three times a week as long as they are 

 procurable. The birds are particularly 

 fond of them, and they are beneficial 

 during this period if fresh - gathered in 

 their ripe, succulent state. 



The breeder should see that his bii-ds 



have a sup2:)ly of linseed during the moult. 



It nuiv be given as a seed 



Importance ^^.j^j^ ^j^^ ^.^.^ j^ eanarv-seed 



of Linseed. . " ,- , 



already mentioned, or a little 



of it may be groimd up in a coffee-mill and 

 mixed with the egg and colour-food two 

 or three times a week. Some birds will 

 not eat linseed when given as a seed ; but 

 they should have a little in one form or 

 the other, as it is of great assistance in 

 giving lustre to the new feather. If given 

 in the meal form, only as much as is required 

 shoidd be ground each time, so that it is 

 fresh and sweet. A teaspoonful to one 

 egg is sufficient at a time. 



To each two ounces of drinking water 

 should be added a piece of sulphate of iron 

 the size of a small split pea 

 DrinRmg every other day right through 

 the moult, or four grains of 

 the sulphate of iron can be dissolved in a 

 quart of water in a jug, and, after the drink- 

 ing vessels have been well washed, they 

 can be filled from this supjjly. Clear water 

 should be given on alternate days. If it is 

 preferred, a very little saccharated car- 

 bonate of iron may be mixed with the egg- 

 food instead, in the proportion of one grain 

 to one egg and its bulk of biscuit or bread. 



The bath may be allowed once a week on 

 bright sunny days, but care should be 



The Bath. 



taken to keep the cages shaded from the 

 bright rays of the sun. The experience of a 

 season will do more towards 

 teaching a fancier the actual 

 routine of this part of his business than 

 a volume of instruction. We have ex- 

 plained what we believe to be the prin- 

 ciples involved, and it is for the fancier to 

 regulate his feeding to suit his birds, but 

 ever bearing in mind never to overdo it. 



Many other things are used to facilitate 

 the moult, as well as to assist the deposi- 

 tion of colour by acting as precipitants ; 

 but we refrain from mentioning them, as 

 from experience we know that they are 

 not beneficial to the birds' health, in spite 

 of their great assistance as colour agents. 

 At the time when sand was in general 

 use for covering the bottom of cages the 

 birds were always deprived 



Sand and ^j. j^ during tlie moulting 

 Sa\vdust. "^ ^ 



season, the cage bottoms being 



covered with chaff, oat husk, or similar 

 clean material so as not to soil the new 

 leathers. This was a great mistake, for 

 gritty sand is necessary to birds as an aid 

 to the proper digestion of their food. 

 Good, clean, rough-cut pine sawdust is 

 now in general use for the bottoms of 

 cages at all seasons of the year, and the 

 sand is supplied separately in an earthen- 

 ware vessel or some such receptacle. Pine 

 saw-dust is one of the best coverings we can 

 have for the cages at all times, and the 

 sand should for preference be clean, gritty 

 sea sand. 



We note, in the next jilace, that by a 

 provision of Nature the Canary does not 

 shed its eighteen flight- 

 Taf/"* ^""^ feathers, nor the twelve 



Feathers. tail-quills, till it is a year 



old — that is, till its second 

 moult ; and it must be evident, therefore, 

 that our moulting feed can have no effect 

 on these feathers, since they are already 

 quite matured. They are, at any time, 

 the whitest feathers in the bird, having 

 only a faint tinge of colour on the outer 

 edge of the web, occasionally barely per- 

 ceptible, and when the smaller body- 

 feathers have all been renewed under the 



