A supply of egg shells has just the opposite effect, for it supplies

a want which is sometimes keenly felt, and thus not only tends

to prevent egg-eating but likewise egg-stealing. Nevertheless

remember that tons of egg shells will not force a dissatisfied

couple to breed successfully.


SOFT EGGS.—It seems to me that some of the treat¬

ments suggested for anything of the nature of egg-binding are

altogether too drastic. One feels that a bird could not be very

far gone if it could go through what is sometimes recommended—

and live. So long as certain of the more delicate antipodeans

are permitted to nest in cages or small aviaries, or to over-lay,

during our winter months more especially, soft eggs will

occasionally occur, no matter what care may be taken. But if

it be a first case, and cold lias not been caught, extra warmth

and a quiet retreat are usually all that are necessary. Neverthe¬

less, where plenty of space cannot be provided, segregation of

the sexes is the only safe course.


The treatment by Mr. W. C. Douglas (p. 105) of his birds is

practically what I have followed for years. I use brandy (sparingly)

instead of whiskey, and add fluid magnesia (an invaluable bird-

medicine) freely, place in a box-cage with a little short-cut hay in

one corner and plenty of perfectly dry sand, &c., and a low perch,

and cover well over with green baize excepting a small part

opposite the food and drink. The food should be of the simplest,

and should include a little plain biscuit crumbled small. I

place the cage in a quiet spot near the stove, and, if it be merely

a soft egg, the bird will be all right in the morning. As a

precautionary measure, I keep it in the box-cage for a few hours

before returning it to its old quarters. Should inflammation of

the ovary have been set up by cold or other cause, the case is

very serious. If warmth and quiet, assisted by some such

medicine as the above, will not cure the patient, nothing will.

Strong measures cannot but do harm ; for it must be remembered

that tiny foreign finches should not be judged, as they too often

are, by the Canary standard ; and even the latter would be all

the better if gentler measures were used. As the bird is about

to be placed in the cage, a little of the above mixture should be

given with a paint brush. In very bad cases, and also when the

patient loses heart and settles down to die, the physicking must

be continued from time to time, but with the greatest care and

gentleness. A drop of sweet oil deposited on the vent will

sometimes render valuable aid; but warmth is the great thing—



