356 The Canary Book. 



first meal at 5 a.m., second 9 a.m., third 1 p.m., and fourth 

 at 5.30 p.m. ; at all other times at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. 



The food consists of zwiebacken (rusks) and hard-boiled eggs 

 (both whites and yokes are used). The rusks are ground to 

 a fine powder in a mortar, and the eggs passed through a 

 fine wire sieve. The ingredients are used in equal proportions, 

 thoroughly incorporated, and given dry. The seed consists of 

 the very best German rape ; avoid old seed. No canary seed 

 is given by Germans to their birds; but occasionally as a treat, 

 a mixture of lettuce seed and maw seed (the whole kind pre- 

 ferred) is given in equal proportions. It is usually given with 

 the egg food ; two or three teaspoonf uls of seed is placed in the 

 egg pan, and a sprinkling of egg food is placed over it. The 

 feeding troughs are cleaned out every day, or the food would 

 become sour. The Germans run their best birds into a clean 

 cage every alternate morning. The empty cages are placed in 

 a tub of boiling water, in which a small quantity of soap and 

 soda has been dissolved, and after being thoroughly washed 

 they are rinsed in hot water and left to dry in the open air, 

 or by the side of a fire. The cages used by the Germans for 

 their song birds are very small, and are made entirely of 

 wood, thin round sticks being used in place of wires. None 

 but the best rusks are to be used for feeding, and if these 

 are not obtainable Oswego biscuits are substituted, but the 

 rusks are greatly preferred. On no account must those be 

 used which have become musty. The St. Andreasberg fanciers' 

 remedy for a cold is peppermint, dried i.e., the common mint 

 of our gardens. This remedy is resorted to on the slightest 

 appearance of a cold, or if the evacuations from the bowels 

 are of a greenish colour; it is also used in cases of hoarse- 

 ness or wheezing; and it is likewise given if a bird is observed 

 to be dull and listless, or mopish, with its feathers ruffled up, 

 a form known among fanciers as " sitting thick ;" or if the 

 excrement has a fetid or sour smell, generally the result of 

 over-feeding with egg food, which disorders the liver. When 

 a bird is observed to have a cold, they cease to give it egg 

 food until it has recovered, and in its place they feed on milk 



