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Our  Canaries 
IN  THE  EARLY  DAYS. 
For  the  first  three  days  let  the  usual  seed  diet  and  egg-food  suffice.  Give 
the  latter  in  small  quantities,  and  give  a  freshly  prepared  supply,  whenever 
possible,  at  least  three  times  each  day.  Do  not  try  to  economise  by  mixing 
any  that  may  be  left  over  with  the  freshly  made  supply.  This  is  the  very 
worst  kind  of  false  economy.  Throw  away  all  that  is  left,  and  wash  out  the 
egg  drawer  before  giving  the  fresh  supply. 
Half  a  teaspoonful  at  each  meal  will  be  sufficient  for  the  first  two  or 
three  days :  but  one  must  use  discretion  and  not  adhere  to  any  hard  and  fast 
rule  as  to  quantities.  Some  birds  consume  a  far  greater  amount  of  egg-food 
than  others,  and  it  is  a  safe  plan  to  endeavour  to  regulate  the  supply  so  that 
the  quantity  given  is  just  cleared  up  before  the  time  to  give  a  fresh  supply. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  manage  this,  by  noting  the  condition  of  the  egg  drawer 
for  the  first  few  days,  and  increasing  or  diminishing  the  supply  as  seems 
necessary. 
THE   GROWING  BROOD. 
By  the  fourth  day  after  hatching  the  egg-food  should  have  been  gradually 
brought  to  a  compound  of  one  part  hard  boiled  minced  egg  and  two  parts 
stale  bread  crumbs,  which  will  be  sufficiently  nourishing  for  the  rest  of  the 
rearing  process.  For  hens  that  are  whimsical  or  delicate  feeders  a  sprinkling 
of  maw  seed,  or  a  very  slight  dusting  with  soft  sugar,  or  both,  as  may  appear 
to  give  the  best  result  in  tempting  the  hens  to  eat  and  feed  the  young  more 
freely,  may  be  added.  Or  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  egg,  bread,  and  crushed 
stale  sponge  cake  may  be  used  instead  of  simply  egg  and  bread.  Any  kind 
of  plain  wholesome  biscuits  may,  of  course,  be  substituted  for  ordinary  bread, 
as  is  very  commonly  done  in  these  days — perhaps  too  much  so.  There  is,  in 
fact,  too  much  importance  attached  to  the  superior  digestibility  and  assimil- 
ability  of  good  biscuits  over  the  common  household  bread,  regardless  of  the 
fact  that  the  greater  amount  of  waste  matter  which  bread  admittedly  contains 
may  in  many  cases  be  of  the  utmost  service  in  providing  waste  products  for 
the  intestinal  canal  to  work  upon  and  thereby  promote  healthy  action  of  the 
lower  bowel.  Just  as  whole-meal  bread,  when  substituted  for  white  bread,  is 
often  the  most  effectual  cure  and  preventative  of  constipation  in  the  human 
subject,  so  may  bread  possess  an  equally  salutary  effect  over  biscuits  in  the 
dietary  of  young  canaries. 
WHEN  TO  GIVE  THE  GREEN  FOOD. 
Green  food  should  be  added  on  the  fourth  day;  in  this,  as  with  egg  food, 
adhering  to  the  principle  of  little  and  often.  A  week  later  a  supply  of  cracked 
hemp  is  of  the  greatest  service  in  helping  to  make  lighter  the  task  of  the 
