MOULTING ON COLOUR-FOOD 



171 



the kmiiitudinal strips on cither side quiekly 



expanding and covering the whole, giving 



the breeder a fair oppor- 

 Early Colour ^^^^^-^^^ ^^ -^^^j ^^ ^^ ^j^^ 



Evidence. „ ' 



future character of his 



bird. \Vith regard to depth of colour, 



very ludikely looking specimens in the 



flight cage may, perhaps, bid fair to become 



gems ; a sharp look-out shoidd therefore 



be kept on the groups in the flights, as 



well as on those moulting in conples. Any 



snch promising birds shoidd be removed at 



once into single cages, or placed in couples. 



It is this early promise, indeed, which 



eventually determines vv'hich birds are to 



remain to be moulted in company and 



which are to receive special attention, for, 



as we have already said, the nest feathers 



are not a sure criterion of futiu-e merit. 



The back next begins to throw out its 



new covering ; but the breeder will notice 



that there is a vast differ- 

 ^'*.^^"*^ses of pj^pg jj^ ^j^g j.j^^g ^^ ^^,j^jp^ 

 Quick Moult. . M. 



the work progresses ni dif- 

 ferent birds. Some seem to go into it 

 with a will, and there is a simultaneous 

 casting of the whole plumage ; others are 

 very lazy over it, and, in some cases, the 

 moidt is lingering and protracted in a 

 most tedious manner. Our experience has 

 always been that a rapid moult is better 

 in every way, and we believe this opinion is 

 shared by the entire Fancy, not more for 

 the sake of the bird than for the character 

 of the results, which are always more 

 satisfactory. We cannot help the " Why ? " 

 coming in on the presentation of any natural 

 phenomenon, and we think the " Because " 

 which answers it in this case is, that the 

 same amount of vital force which enables 

 the bird to tlirow off its old feathers enables 

 it to produce its new ones with correspond- 

 ing vigour. Or, inverting the reason, we 

 would say that it is the speedy production 

 of the new growth that displaces the old ; 

 and where we find healthy action at work 

 in one direction, it is only natural to infer 

 it is going on in others. Vigorous growth 

 is therefore accompanied by vigorous 

 feather-action of every kind. A lack of 

 ability to produce new featlier will, in the 



same way, be attended by corresponding 

 inability to carry on the other part of the 

 work, and a slow moult, therefore, gener- 

 ally means deficient colour. We may 

 extend this yet a step farther, and say 

 that in cases in which birds are late in 

 going into moult, or show siuiis of not being 

 able to moult at all, it is no cruelty to do 

 our best to set the machine in motion, in 

 the hojje that when once set going it may 

 gather impetus and finish a work it had 

 not the power to begin. The bird has to 

 moult or die. 



In the olden days a common remedy was 

 to pull out the tail feathers of such birds 



and then turn them into 

 Accelerating , j fjj j^^ ^^^^^ ^ 



the Moult. ■ , , • 



much better plan is to 



give them saffron tea to drink. This is 

 made by placing a few shreds of hay saffron 

 in half a teacup of boiling water and let- 

 ting it stand until cold. The bird's drinker 

 should be filled with the liquor, which 

 should be prepared fresh daily. The 

 cage must be placed in a dark corner of 

 a warm room, with its front half covered 

 over, and to the small allowance of 

 egg-food should be added on every third 

 or fourth day a slight sprinkling of flowers 

 of sulphur, until the bird gets well away 

 with the moult. Very little sulphur must 

 be added, or the bird will not eat the food. 

 Wien once the overdue moult is thus 

 started the bird usually goes right through 

 without any further interru])tions, though, 

 of course, its vigour must be maintained 

 by light, nutritious feeding. 



Desperate diseases require desperate 

 remedies, and if we had a bird which, after 

 going so far, seemed to have no power to 

 go farther, leaving the head with the 

 feathers uncast, we should add the flowers 

 of sulphur more frequently to the egg- 

 food — just the slightest dust daily for 

 five or six days. At the end of that time 

 we should only give it every third day, or 

 even at longer intervals. In obstinate 

 cases there may be added to the water in 

 an ordinary sized drinker half a teaspoonful 

 of liquid cochineal, fresh daily. The bird 

 should be kept very warm, ^vith the front 



