Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-12-21
CARE OF CANARiES.


How to Properly Feed and Look An.
er the Son9sters.
When the canary IL in ordinary
health the more plainly 1t Is fed the
better, says the Pittsburg Press. The
usual mixture IL what 10 called black
and white canary seed. the black being
good summer rape. OF this one part
Is added to two Of the other. 1t Is I'm
portant. however. that the seed be
good and clean-that is, free from dust
and grit.
The canary seed should be fat gilt
tering seeds, and before putting It In
the tin Of morning not only should
the tin Itself be cleansed. but the see!
should be put upon q piece Of white
paper and the dust or grit, If any.
blown away or removed. In addition
to these seeds a little green food must
be given. fresh every day. but not
damp The best are probably plantain.
ripe groundsel, ripe chickweed. lit
tie lettuce or water cress.
As to daintles. the less Of these the
better. We may. perhaps. make an
exception in the traditional morsel Of
sugar or crumb Of sweet biscuit, but
bird will not keep long in song that
has much OF either.
Water should be given fresh every
morning. the little glass fountain being
previously we'll rinsed out. Soft filter.
ed water Is best by far. A great many
ailments are induced BY hard water.
In the wild state birds drink the rain
water from the leaves. This Is pure
and contains. Of course. no hardness
Sand is another important sine qua
non Of health. 1t should be rather
coarse or gritty and very clean. Per
haps washed sea sand Is as good as
any The bottom Of the cage should
always be thickly strew'n with this
Immediately after the cage is cleaned
In the morning a stock being kept In
the house for the purpose.
A song canary will not do we'll foi
any length Of time In a stuf1y. badly
ventilated room. Fresh air Is essen.
tal to health. Another thing that
tends greatly to keep the bird in health
should be so hung that the sunshine
shall penetrate the cage. but at the
same time 1t must be remembered that
too much heat is very dangerous. SO
one-half Of the cage should be inyari'
ably covered with cloth.
This cloth comes in handy In several
other ways-at night. for example,;
more particularly whea the tempera-
ture Is low or likely to be. On such
occasions the cage is to be covered
quite over. but in summer part
should always be left open. The cloth
may be required also at times when
anything Is being done In the room
likely to brighten the bird. Some birds
are naturally timid and easily alarmed
When they are 80, It Is useless trying
to tame them; the heart Is weak and
they need extra gentle treatment. We
have known a bird Of this kind al
most frightened to death by some one,
while sewing. tearing q piece Of linen
down the center.
Apropos Of fresh air. the bird In
the winters evening Is too often hung
In a position we have already con-
demned as preJudicial to its health In
a room where gas IL burning. II The
bird must be in this room the cage
should be lowered and partially GOV.
cred up. Smoke, steam and all sorts
Of vapors tend to injure the health
slowly. OF, indeed. to cause illness and
loss OF voice.
A forenoon bath daily In fine weather
IL an excellent preservative Of life and
voice in the song canary. A saucer
makes a. good bath - any. the wa
ter being clear rain water 1t Is usual
" placed in the cage, but II the bird
, has been tanned thoroughly and al
lowed Its freedom for a time every
day the bath should be placed on a
chair or on the floor. The bird will
come to look upon this as a very great
luxury and the cage remains unsoiled.