Our  Canaries 
lOI 
CHAPTER  V. 
FEEDING. 
THE  feeding  of  our  Canaries  at  different  seasons,  in  the  various  stages  of  their 
existence,  and  for  particular  effects,  is  a  subject  which  demands  a  chapter 
to  itself  in  order  to  give  it  proper  consideration,  and  render  the  information  readily 
accessible  for  reference  at  all  times  when  difficulties  arise  in  which  the  question  of 
diet  may,  and  all  too  frequently  does,  play  an  important  part.  It  is  safe  to  assert 
that  of  all  the  troubles  that  beset  the  path  of  the  Canary  fancier  and  the  ills  that 
bird  flesh  is  heir  to  only  a  very  small  proportion  arise  from  causes  which  are  quite 
outside  the  realm  of  dietetics.  Given  proper  attention  to  cleanliness  and  hygiene, 
a  constant  supply  of  pure  fresh  water,  and  a  properly  selected  and  well  regulated 
dietary  Canaries  are  among  the  most  healthy  and  least  troublesome  of  all 
domestic  pets,  and  are  probably  subject  to  but  few  ailments.  Yet  it  is  a  fact 
beyond  dispute  that  under  adverse  conditions  of  diet  and  management  really 
sound  and  healthy  birds  after  an  adult  moult  are  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence. 
SHOULD  STUDY  THE  DIET. 
This  will  undoubtedly  appear  to  be  a  very  wild  and  sweeping  assertion  ;  never- 
theless, it  is  based  on  long  experience  of  inner  knowledge,  as  it  were,  of  the  hobby 
of  Canary  keeping,  and  the  fancier  who  wishes  to  see  his  stock  wear  well,  and 
keep  well,  until  a  good  old  age,  and  to  avoid  the  loss  and  worries  inseparable 
from  a  stock  of  weakly  birds,  lacking  in  constitutional  stamina,  and  consequently 
susceptible  to  every  unhealthy  influence,  and  offering  little  or  no  resistance  to 
disease  or  the  evil  effects  of  unwholesome  surroundings,  should  make  a  close 
study  of  diet  and  general  hygiene  his  first  care  as  a  matter  of  principle  as  well  as 
prudence. 
THE  ESSENTIALS. 
It  is  not  our  intention  to  enter  into  a  long  dissertation  or  prolix  details  upon 
the  scientific  problems  which  the  question  involves,  or  of  the  physiological  effect 
of  particular  foods  upon  the  living  organism.  All  such  learned  essays  are,  in  our 
humble  opinion,  in  better  taste  when  restricted  to  their  proper  sphere  in  a  work  on 
physiology,  to  which  all  who  wish  may  readily  refer  and  dip  into  the  scientific 
aspect  of  the  question,  and  acquire  what  an  old  pedagogue  was  wont  to  describe 
as  "  useless  literary  acquisitions  "  to  their  heart's  content.  But  we  are  convinced 
that  the  vast  majority  of  fanciers  seek  to  know  little  of,  and  care  less  for,  the 
obscure  and  mystic  phraseology,  as  it  undoubtedly  is  to  the  great  bulk  of  this 
class,  of  this  branch  of  science.  Therefore,  empiric  though  it  will  appear  in  the  eyes 
of  the  scientific,  we  have  decided  to  take  the  average  fancier  on  his  own  ground, 
and  tell  him  in  language  every  word  of  which  he  can  understand  from  the  result 
of  long  years  of  practical  experience  of  ourselves  and  some  of  the  most  skilful  and 
