DISEASES OF CANARY AND OTHER BIRDS. 161 



birds, are sometimes troubled with this ; it is often 

 occasioned by the feet and legs getting dry and 

 hard, and the scales contracted, and the shedding 

 of them being protracted, causes much pain to the 

 bird, and often lameness. Wash the feet and 

 shanks of the bird, once or twice a day, with 

 some warm milk and water, and rub them with a 

 little lard ; when they get soft, remove the scales 

 gently, this treatment will soon effect a cure. 



By getting it caught in the wires, or from some 

 other cause, a bird will sometimes unfortunately 

 break its leg. In this case take the perches out 

 of the cage, and spread a piece of flannel smoothly 

 on the bottom. If you have glasses in your cage, 

 take them out, and stop up the holes, then put the 

 food into very shallow vessels so as the bird can 

 eat and drink without getting up, or rising on its 

 legs. Nature will now do the rest, the bone will 

 soon knit, and the bird get well. By this mode 

 of treatment I have in general been successful in 

 effecting a complete cure. 



The claws of a bird that has been kept in a 

 cage for some time will grow long, so as to annoy 

 the bird in leaping from perch to perch in catching 

 round them, and might be the cause of the bird's 

 injuring itself as before mentioned. In this case, 

 take the bird in your left hand, and holding its 



