canary seed

birdseed.

Origin of canary seed

First recorded in 1590–1600

As a treat, a little crushed hempseed or summer cabbage-seed may be mixed with the canary-seed.

The Illustrated London Reading Book |Various
Indeed a mixture of summer rape-seed, oatmeal and millet, or canary-seed, may be given them as a great treat.

The Natural History of Cage Birds |J. M. Bechstein
"I will take him a large bag of canary-seed," replied this good man.

The Young Emigrants; Madelaine Tube; The Boy and the Book; and Crystal Palace |Susan Anne Livingston Ridley Sedgwick
Fonske hid his in the drawer, next to the canary-seed, Dolfke his in the cupboard and Bertje shoved his portion into his pockets.

The Path of Life |Stijn Streuvels

The weaver-birds of Africa are mostly quite hardy and very easily kept, their food consisting, for the most part, of canary-seed.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 |Various

canary seed

another name for birdseed