Our  Canaries 
215 
ANOTHER  METHOD. 
Somewhat  similar  is  the  procedure  of  Mr.  J.  Dewsnap,  of  Glossop,  who 
writes:  "I  start  colour-feeding  when  the  birds  are  about  eight  weeks  old.  I 
use  5  lbs.  of  tasteless  pepper  to  i  lb.  of  hot  Natal,  i  lb.  of  granulated  sugar, 
and  40Z.  of  almond  oil.  I  start  with  one  teaspoonful  to  one  egg  and  a  slice 
of  bread  about  one  inch  thick,  and  increase  to  six  teaspoonfuls  to  the  same 
quantity  of  egg  and  bread  crumbs.  When  the  birds  go  into  moult  I  cover 
them  down  with  a  white  sheet,  about  four  inches  from  the  cages.  I  do  not 
put  them  in  darkness,  but  only  break  the  strong  light  from  them.  Twice  a 
week  I  put  a  crystal  of  citrate  of  iron  in  the  water  and  a  little  linseed  in 
the  seed  box." 
OTHER  RECIPES. 
An  excellent  colour  mixture  for  general  purposes  is  made  up  of  12  ozs.  of 
tasteless  red  pepper,  i  oz.  Natal,  and  3  ozs.  of  soft  sugar  thoroughly  blended 
together  and  kept  in  a  wide-mouthed  glass,  or  glazed  earthenware  jar.  If  good 
hot  tones  are  desired,  and  the  use  of  hot  Natal  is  objected  to,  13  ozs. 
tasteless  red,  2  ozs.  paprika,  and  i  oz.  Natal,  with  the  same  amount  of 
sugar  may  be  used. 
If  birds  refuse  to  eat  the  colour-food  freely  when  a  sprinkling  of  maw  seed  is 
added  thereto,  it  is  probably  due  to  an  excessive  use  of  oil  or  other  colouring 
agents.  We  never  yet  experienced  any  difficulty  in  getting  it  partaken  of  even 
when  a  larger  proportion  of  hot  Natal  than  is  mentioned  above  was  used. 
Neither  should  it  be  necessary  to  take  away  the  seed;  indeed,  we  recollect 
that  some  of  the  richest  fed  birds  we  ever  moulted  simply  had  a  saucer  of  the 
pure  colouring  agents,  with  a  small  proportion  of  maw  seed,  and  no  egg  or  biscuit 
of  any  kind  kept  in  the  cage  whilst  moulting  as  an  experiment,  and  an  unlimited 
supply  of  mixed  seed  always  available,  the  birds  being  at  liberty  to  eat  or 
reject  the  colour  mixture  as  they  pleased.  But  instead  of  rejecting  it  they 
partook  of  it  freely  in  moderate  quantity  and  came  through  the  moult  a 
splendid  colour. 
For  feeding  Cinnamons,  the  above  feeds  may  be  taken  for  a  basis  and 
2  ozs.  of  turmeric  and  i  oz.  of  madder  added  to  each  pound. 
FOR  NATURAL  COLOUR  BIRDS. 
To  give  a  recipe  for  feeding  natural  colour  birds  seems  a  curious  anomaly. 
Yet  the  utter  impossibility  of  drawing  a  boundary  line  between  natural  colour 
and  the  colour  of  birds  that  have  been  judiciously  fed,  and  the  desire  to  get 
the  best  possible  appearance  on  the  birds  is  so  well-known  that  no  less  an 
authority  than  Mr.  E.  Pretty  is  responsible  for  this  recipe  for  improving  so- 
called  natural  colour  birds.  It  consists  of  ^  lb.  Nepaul  pepper  ;  |  lb.  turmeric  ; 
2  ozs.  sweet  pepper ;  and  ^  lb.  sugar. 
