i84 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



the winijs ;is imirh as possible ; and 

 liiiisli oil' with the throat, breast, and 

 belly. Having done this, reverse the bird, 

 lioitling it in the hand as at first, exce]>t 

 that the head and neck shoidd now be 

 between the thnnib and forefinger ; it 

 can be field quite securely in the j)ahn of 

 the liand witfi tlie other three lingers, 

 thus allowing the o])erator to open the 

 forefinger and thnnib, and giving full 

 scope to wash the head and neck, whicli 

 are always best done last, as they can then 

 be quickly rinsed from soap, and so prevent 

 undue irritation to the eyes should any 

 soap jjerchance get into them. With the 

 bird in tliis ])osition it can be field with 

 forefinger and tiiumfj round tlie neck while 

 the ticad is washed, opening the finger 



ANOTHER METHOI3 OF HOLOING A lOKU 



FOR wvsniN'c. 



and tlninib as e.\i)hi,ini(l, and securmg tlie 

 i)ir(l willi the other lingers while the ne<'k 

 is dealt with, and rcni(i\ing llic other 

 fingers sulliciently and alternately like those 

 of a. violinist, to give space as head and 

 neck arc washed, taking eai'c that I he dirt 

 is well removed round llie beak and luis- 

 trils. and linishing olT with I lie shoulders. 

 The tliii'd linger, |)laced under Ihc Ihroat. 

 will rcadiU' raise the head for its wash. It 

 is no use a,ttem|)ting 1o l)e loo p.-niiiai- 

 la.r a.boul the eyes: il is licllcr to lorgil 

 llial the bird has an\'. e\cc])t. of course, 

 that care will be taken that the l)rush 

 floes not (;ome against those delicate 

 organs, and this is best acconiplishcd by 

 passing the side of the brush over them. 

 The soap will alfi'cl tluni for the moment, 

 but this cannot be helped : its elTeet soon 



passes oft, and it is no use fretting ; most 

 sensible birds shut their eyes. 



Should the foregoing method of fiold- 

 ing a bird be f'onntl awkward or dillicult 

 — and different hands seem naturally to 

 fall intcj tlilTercnt methods — there is another 

 we have seen practised with good results. 

 In this method the head is passed between 

 the thnnib and forefinger of the left hand, 

 and the three other fingers spread out so 

 as to support the flights and tail whilst 

 they and the back are washed with the 

 brush, as shown on this page. The bird is 

 then reversed and laid on its back in the 

 jialni of the hand, while tlie throat, l)reast, 

 belly, and under parts of the wings and 

 tail are washed : it is then reversed as 

 before and tlie last three fingers closed 

 over the back with the thumb and fore- 

 finger opened suflieiently to allow the 

 head, neck, and shoulders to undei'go the 

 operation. Should this mi'thod be ])nr- 

 sned, care must be taken not to [ircss the 

 neck feathers too tightly with tfie fingers, 

 or they may become " frilled." 



S(j far all is fairly simple ; but at first, 

 until the operator gains confidence and 

 masters the task, he is almost as afraid to 

 handle a Canary as average men are to 

 meddle witti a new-born baby. It is dilfi- 

 cidt to avoid a fear that the legs will come 

 off, or till' bird eollaj)sc. or something I'cpudly 

 dreadful ha])|)en. Once get over this and 

 remember tfiat the object is sinqily to get 

 the dirt out of the feathers, and that there 

 is no danger so far. or any great ])articu- 

 la.rity as to which way the brush moves 

 so long as it mo\es in the general direction 

 ol' the leathers, and that is enough. Of 

 eouise. it should be seen that there is uo 

 |)a,rt ieulai' pi'essure on a,n\' |)ai't of the body, 

 cspceiallx' on the belly. 



We will su|i|)ose that the bii'ds are now 

 clean. The next thing to do is to scpicezc 

 the soap from the lil'usji. dip 

 it in the water in the second 

 basin- making sure thai t liis is ol' I he tem- 

 perature ads ised and with it washout the 

 soap left in the birds plumage. Finally, 

 hold the i)aticnt (by this time reduced to 

 eomparati\-e tameiicss) in as ])erpeiulicu- 



Rinsing. 



