36 OUR HOME PETS 



To make a bird tame, you should find out 

 his special dainty, and reserve that to admin- 

 ister yourself. For a canary a hemp-seed is 

 the great temptation ; he never gets enough 

 hemp-seed, because they are too rich for an 

 exclusive diet. Take one in your fingers, and 

 hold it close to the bars at the end of a perch, 

 where he can approach on the inside and take 

 it if he chooses. Then speak to him gently, 

 or make a little chirruping sound or a low 

 whistle. He may not take it the first time, 

 and after you have held it there awhile, take 

 it away. By no means drop it in his cage, or 

 he will learn that by waiting patiently he will 

 get it, whereas by taking it away he learns 

 that he cannot have the hemp -seed till he 

 takes it out of your hand. The second time 

 he will be less afraid, and in a few days he will 

 begin to tease for it. 



With a soft-billed or insect-eating bird a 

 meal-worm will work in the same way, and 

 if you dislike to hold one of these wrigglers, 

 a buzzing fly or a little spider will do as well. 

 Either of these you may, if you prefer, hold 

 in a pair of printers' tweezers with the same 

 results. Gentleness and patience, and some 



