Food
Seed-eating birds do best if they are fed on canary seed and a little summer rape, with now and then a few hemp-seeds, some Hartz mountain bread, and a bit of groundsel or water-cress that has been well washed. If they look dull and sit in a puffed-up little heap, a drop of brandy in their water often does good; and, should they show signs of asthma, try chopped, hard-boiled egg, with a few grains of cayenne pepper, and a bit of saffron or a rusty nail in the water. These are also good when the bird is moulting. For insect-eating birds you must buy meal-worms and ants' eggs, and thrushes and blackbirds need earth-worms as well.