on coming and going.



203



It must be remembered the bird has passed through a trying

time ; what with being caught and put in a cramped dark space, and

all the trials of being shaken on a journey and continually hearing

strange noises. Possibly the bird has been too nervous to eat, and

has got chilled, and is in a condition to start an illness, under these

circumstances you will see that attention on arrival to little details

may make all the difference to the bird’s future health and comfort.

But suppose the bird already seems ill when it arrives. We all

know the signs of a sick bird, the ruffled feathers, and the head

sinking into the neck, and the huddled, hopeless way it sits on the

cage floor. A very little brandy in tepid water may do good, but I

think the greatest stress should he laid on keeping the sick bird

warm. Heat is a very great factor in bird-life during sickness . it

helps to keep up the circulation which is always feeble when a

bird is ill. A fire may he so arranged and backed up with “ small ’

coal so that it will last nearly all night. You cannot expect a sick

bird to recover unless it is kept very warm, half measures are not

the slightest use. A light, too, should be left burning all night, the

cage being placed so that the bird is not disturbed by the light and

yet can see to eat.


If the bird arrives in daylight and seems well you may turn

it straight into your aviary, though it is always a risk. The new

comer will he in a tired condition and the surroundings are all

strange; the other birds in the aviary may object to the stranger,

and, apart from attacking it, may drive it from the food it needs

badly. But after a quiet night in a cage a new bird should be on

equal terms with its companions when let out early the next morn¬

ing, and you will have the whole day to watch if the birds are going

to agree. A few hours notice will probably decide this point one

way or the other.


It is as well to ascertain before a bird is sent to you what it

has been fed on, and to keep to that diet for a little time, even

though you think it a wrong one.


In buying birds it is an unwritten law that the buyer always

pays the carriage. In giving a bird away, of course the giver would

pay it. The sender usually sends the bird in a box that need not be

returned and there is no charge made for it. This is one of the



