42 Song Birds. 



fact, where many birds are together in an aviary, an 

 approximation to the food of each is all that can be 

 attempted. 



As a general rule, there is, perhaps, no bird of 

 the hard-billed class which would refuse canary seed, 

 but a few prefer rape ; and while to some a fair share 

 of hemp is necessary, to others it is injurious, as they 

 become too fat. 



2. Bechstein gives a most excellent recipe for a 

 universal paste, one on which, he says, thirty or forty 

 birds thrive well in his room, preserving most 

 perfectly the beauty of their plumage. All birds, he 

 says, whatever their natural food, will eat this 

 willingly ; and he has had Chaffinches, Goldfinches, 

 Linnets, Siskins (Aberdevines), Robins, Canaries, 

 Larks, Tits, Hedge- warblers, Quails, &c., all feeding 

 on it together. These birds, however, belong chiefly to 

 those which eat only seeds, though a few of them eat 

 insects also, as Larks and the varieties of Tits, which 

 also are largely given to devour green pease and 

 berries. For all these birds it seems well to mix 

 with the paste a little hemp and rape seed ; when 

 the seed can be pounded, the birds certainly like it 

 better, and thus many people devote a coffee-mill 

 entirely to their service. 



Of course it is better to let the birds have their 

 own mill ; but should this be inconvenient, as in the 

 case of only one or two, the mill may be perfectly 



