FOR CAGES AND AVIARIES. 207 



long way towards restoring the shattered health ; and tender 

 feet will not happen if sawdust instead of sand is used 

 for the floor of the cage, and this is regularly seen to at 

 least every second day. It is needless to remark that the 

 perches also require attention, and should be scraped or 

 washed as occasion may demand. 



Sometimes a Thrush will catch cold from exposure to a 

 draught, and should then be given a teaspoonful of the 

 following mixture in two tablespoonfuls of water for 

 drinking — any respectable chemist will make it up for a 

 few pence : Oxymel of squills, liquor tolu, mucilage of 

 gum acacia, and glycerine, of each twenty drops, water to 

 one fluid ounce, mix. This will soon afford relief. Occa- 

 sionally, however, a congested state of the liver will cause 

 panting and shortness of breath, which are usually put 

 down to an attack of ''asthma," a very unusual complain 

 among birds, although liver congestion is common; a 

 teaspoonful of fluid magnesia (Dinneford's or Murray's) 

 in two tablespoonfuls of water for drinking will give 

 speedy relief. 



Indigestion often gives rise to constipation, which will 

 be relieved by the magnesia, but if not, a mealworm or 

 blackbeede dipped in castor-oil and then given to the bird 

 will not fail to produce the desired effect. None of these 

 ailments, however, need necessarily attack a caged Thrush, 

 and if it is correctly dieted and lodged they will not, and 

 it will be very seldom indeed that the aviarist will be 

 obliged to have recourse to *'the birds' medicine chest." 



Fits may occur; these are the result of a disordered 

 digestion, as a rule. Relief will be afforded by magnesia 

 or oil and a return to a natural diet. 



Scaly legs torment some elderly captive Thrushes and 

 are the direct consequence of insufficient opportunities for 

 bathing. The sufferer must be made to stand in a 

 shallow pan of warm water by placing a dish-cover or 

 something of the kind over it, and letting the bird remain 

 there for a quarter of an hour or so, until the redundant 

 scales have become softened, when they can be readily" 

 got rid off by rubbing them gently with a towel, or a 

 piece of flannel; but unless they peel off easily, they had 



