DISEASES AND THEIR CURE

The cause of most disease is colds, which are occasioned by either hanging a bird in a draught of air, near a loose-fitting window, or keeping him in a very hot room (sixty-five degrees is the proper tem- perature for a bird) through the day, and then in a cool one at night — a variation of, perhaps, thirty degrees in twenty-four hours. The best cure for the cold is to feed, in addition to their regular seed, rape and canary, and perhaps millet, a paste made from a hard-boiled egg and one pulverized cracker, thoroughly mixed together, using no water in mixing, the egg supplying sufficient moisture. Sometimes a bird seems hoarse, and apparently has lost his voice. This is occasioned by over- singing ; a little pure rock-candy, not flavored, dissolved in the drinking water, and a quantity of red pepper put into the paste described above, will usually effect a cure. If, however, the cold is allowed to remain for several days without attention or cure, it will pass rapidly from cold to asthma, and from that to gapes, which is best described by saying that the bird looks like a little puff-ball, with a constant panting, and his bill almost constantly opening and shutting, as if to catch his breath. His food should be the same as described above. Also, keep the bird warm and g^ve, with his rape and canary, ripe plantain, if it can be had. Every morning he should have a small teaspoonful of warm bread and milk, and now and then a little bit of sponge-cake soaked in sherry wine.

Asthma — for birds have this disease as well as the human race — generally yields to plantain and rape seed moistened with water as the sole food. Birds troubled with a looseness of the bowels can be greatly

12 BIRDS.

relieved by placing a rusty nail in their drinking water. Another excel- lent remedy will be found in common chalk. Let a small piece be placed between the wires, and do not feed them any green stuff. It is also well to scrape the chalk quite fine and scatter it with the sand in the bottom of the cage. Should the bird be troubled with costiveness, a piece of sweet apple, a little chickweed, lettuce, or any green food, will usually afford relief. Most ailments of birds commence with a cold ; keep them free from that and you will have healthy birds. Often- times a bird bristles up and sits moping upon the perch, with his head under his wing, and looks like a puff-ball. By watching him you can usually tell the cause and relieve him. The cause will be often found that the bird has been neglected and not fed properly, or that sufficient water has not been given him. If, however, it should prove that the bird has plenty of food and is perfectly regular, then make a change in his food, taking away the seed and feeding the soft food, as recom- mended for birds with colds, and perhaps a small piece of sweet apple. Occasionally a canary is troubled with a kind of indigestion, which causes inflammation of the intestines, to which young birds are more especially subject. The symptoms are a swelling of the body which, on blowing up the feathers, looks semi-transparent and full of red veins. The cause of this is generally an over-abundance of nutrition, or bad or stale food or water ; the remedy, if any there be, is a spare diet, with a little alum or salt in the drink ; oatmeal is good in this case. If the bowels should be much relaxed, give bruised hemp and maw seed. Sometimes the feathers of the