fresh water. Change the food every day. When they
are a month old, put them into separate cages. Cut the claws of
cage-birds occasionally, when they become too long, but in doing so be
careful not to draw blood.

2159. Treatment of Canaries.

Care must be taken to keep canaries very clean. For this purpose, the
cage should be strewed every morning with clean sand, or rather, fine
gravel, for small pebbles are _absolutely essential_ to life and
health in cage-birds: fresh water must be given every day, both for
drinking and bathing; the latter being in a shallow vessel; and,
during the moulting season, a small bit of iron should be put into the
water for drinking. The food of a canary should consist principally of
_summer_ rape seed that is, of those small _brown_ rape seeds which
are obtained from plants sown in the spring, and which ripen during
the summer; large and _black_ rape seeds, on the contrary, are
produced by such plants as are sown in autumn and reaped in spring. A
little chickweed in spring, lettuce leaves in summer, and endive in
autumn, with slices of sweet apple in winter, may be safely given; but
bread and sugar ought to be generally avoided. Occasionally, also, a
few poppy or canary seeds, and a small quantity of bruised hemp seed
may be added, but the last very sparingly.

Cleanliness, simple food, and fresh but not _cold_ air, are essential
to the well-being of a canary. During the winter, the cage should
never be hung in a room without a fire, but even then, when the air is
mild, and the sun shines bright, the little prisoner will be refreshed
by having the window open. The cage should never be less than eight
inches in diameter, and a foot high, with perches at different heights.

2160. Bullfinches.

Old birds should be fed with German Paste, (_See par_. 2164), and
occasionally rapeseed. The Germans sometimes give them a little
poppy-seed, and a grain or two of rice, steeped in Canary wine, when
teaching them to pipe, as a reward for the progress they make. Bird
organs, or flageolets, are used to teach them. They breed three or
four times a year. The young require to be kept very warm, and to be
fed every two hours with rape seed, soaked for several hours in cold
water, afterwards scalded and strained, bruised, mixed with bread, and
moistened with milk. Not more than one, two, or three mouthfuls should
be given at a time