60 Song Birds. 



water, others, much less safely, giving it a bath of 

 cold ; but I do not think anything is better than 

 laying the bird down on a marble slab, which gives it 

 a shock of cold without making it wet, and when it 

 comes to itself keeping it very warm in a well-heated 

 flannel. 



8. One of my original pair of Canaries used, I 

 remember, to distress me ever}' spring and autumn 

 by a succession of what seemed very violent fits. Yet 

 she lived for years, and was the mother each summer 

 of a goodly family. A little oatmeal, a lump of chalk, 

 and a piece of bay salt, are all very desirable to keep 

 in the cage, as the birds have thus an opportunity to re- 

 sort to their natural remedies, if they feel indisposed. 



9. Birds are extremely apt to suffer by any sudden 

 change of food, as well as by exposure to cold, damp, 

 fatigue, or fright. In all these cases the nearer the 

 food can resemble the natural kind the better, and I 

 have already said how important it is in buying a 

 new bird to hear exactly what food it has had, the 

 food being so much a matter of individual habit, 

 which seems often to take the place of that which is 

 most natural to the class. As a general rule, how- 

 ever, I think that canary seed, with a little new rape, 

 hemp, and flax, will suit ; hard-boiled egg is also a 

 very good thing for birds when moulting, weak, or ill, 

 and I often have given mine a little cold milk to 

 drink, or have fed them with scalded bread, which 



