Our  Canaries 
believe  It  is,  nevertheless,  and  we  believe  rightly,  now  used  in  the  most 
limited  quantities.  As  a  staple  diet  Canary  seed  is  so  much  superior  to 
millet,  that  there  is  never  a  prospect  of  the  latter  now  supplantmg  it  as  long 
as  good  sound,  or  even  a  moderate  quality  of  Canary  seed  is  available. 
Inga,  thistle,  sunflower,  linseed,  sesame,  gold  of  pleasure,  are  all  rich,  oily 
seeds  suitable  only  for  occasional  luxuries,  and  in  certain  conditions,  as  will 
be  pointed  out  presently.  Maw  is  of  exceptional  benefit  during  the  moult, 
and  as  an  appetiser  for  "  seedy  birds,"  or  to  tempt  them  to  partake  more 
readily  of  any  particular  food  they  are  offered  and  do  not  appear  to  appreciate. 
Teazle  is  also  a  useful  appetiser  for  occasional  use,  whilst  such  items  as  oats, 
groats  and  rice,  are  most  useful  to  partly  supplant  egg  foods,  or  for  building 
up  the  frames  of  large  varieties.  Egg  food,  bread  and  milk,  and  similar  moist 
foods  are  essential  during  the  breeding  season,  less  so  in  the  moulting  period, 
and  most  useful  during  periods  of  exceptional  strain  and  illness. 
A  WORD  ON  MOIST  FOOD.  ^ 
Having  used  the  term  moist  foods  just  now,  it  may  be  advisable  to  digress 
here  for  a  moment  to  point  out  what  is  meant  by  the  term.  It  does  not 
mean  a  food  saturated  with  water,  or  reduced  to  a  pasty  mass,  much  less  a 
sloppy  mess.  Such  a  degree  of  moisture  as  will  not  release  any  perceptible 
moisture  on  to  the  fingers  when  handled  is  all  that  is  desired,  or  with 
just  a  slight  sense  of  dampness  to  the  touch,  yet,  to  all  appearances,  dry. 
The  inner  part  of  a  loaf  of  bread  one  day  old  may  be  taken  as  a  con- 
venient type  of  what  is  required.  When  making  the  egg-food  with  fresh 
hard-boiled  eggs,  no  additional  moisture  to  what  is  contained  naturally  m  the 
substance  of  the  eggs  is  necessary  to  bring  the  prepared  food  ready  for  use 
to  the  proper  degree  of  moisture. 
A  COMMON  MISTAKE. 
Most  novices,  when  mixing  soft  food,  err  on  the  side  of  making  the 
food  too  moist,  which,  besides  being  less  palatable  to  the  birds,  has  the  very 
serious  disadvantage  that  in  a  wet  condition  it  forms  a  far  more  suitable  culti- 
vating medium  for  the  germs  of  septic  fever  than  is  the  case  when  it  is  used 
in  a  more  dry  state.  Bread  and  milk  will  in  some  cases  prove  an  exception 
to  this  rule,  as  it  will  be  found  impossible  to  prepare  pure  bread  and  milk  m 
this  condition  of  comparative  dryness.  But  even  in  this  case  it  should  be 
pressed  as  dry  as  possible  without  reducmg  it  to  a  sticky  paste,  save  m  the 
few  cases  of  illness  where  it  is  advised  to  be  given  with  only  just  the  surplus 
fluid  drained  ofi".  In  all  such  cases  only  sufficient  for  the  birds  to  clear  up 
in  a  few  hours  should  be  given  at  a  time. 
It  is  only  in  this  country  that  the  first  named  three  ot  these  may  be 
called  uncommon,  as  they  are  well-known  and  frequently  used  articles  in 
various  parts  of  the  Contment,  where  they  would  form  a  kind  of  substitute 
