WHAT SHALL HE EAT? 55 



safe way is to scatter so much hemp as is safe 

 for the bird on the gravel of the floor, perhaps 

 a small half-teaspoonful for a canary and some- 

 what more for a larger bird. He will tramp 

 around till he has found every one, and if he 

 has not been totally demoralized by having 

 these dainties mixed with his regular canary- 

 seed in his dish, he will not try to find them 

 by throwing everything out. 



Now and then a bird thrives on hemp-seed ex- 

 clusively, as some parrots and cockatoos, while 

 others eat canary alone, as some cockatoos 

 and several blackbirds. Still other finches, 

 as the cardinal-grosbeak, live almost entirely 

 upon "rough rice," or rice in the husk. They 

 shell the grains very neatly, and they prefer 

 them to the shelled rice of commerce. 



No bird does so well on seed alone as when 

 his bill of fare is varied by some sort of fresh 

 food every day. At least such is the result of 

 my experience with them, notwithstanding 

 what bird-dealers and bird-books say on the 

 subject. Without green food birds will suffer 

 from constipation, while with it they are rarely 

 afflicted in that way. There are many things 

 of the sort that birds like, and each one has 



