MANAGEMENT OF CAPTIVE BIRDS. 195 
DIsEASES AND ACCIDENTS. 
If birds are given plenty of room, kept clean, and 
suitably fed, they will practically never be ill; butif 
under these circumstances, they do get out of sorts little 
or nothing can be done. At the same time cases occasion- 
ally happen which can easily be set right by simple 
treatment. The bill and claws, for instance, often over- 
grow, and should in such cases be cut back to their proper 
length with a sharp pair of scissors. A hen bird when 
breeding may suffer from egg-binding—be unable to lay 
her egg ; in this case a little oil applied to the vent with a 
feather will probably give relief. A broken leg, if the 
fracture be a clean one, may be bound up with splints 
made from a quill, that being the method recommended 
by Dr. A. G. Butler. 
To avoid disease and accidents the great requisite is not 
to overcrowd and not to put strong and weak birds 
together. A bird, the size of a Canary, as noted in the 
treating of small cages, needs a square foot of floor-space, 
and this rule should be rigidly adhered to in stocking 
aviaries and large cages. Most people crowd far too many 
birds together. 
Secondly, birds of different sizes should not be put 
together as a general rule, or there will be trouble sooner 
or later. Of course, this rule must be modified with 
reference to the strength of birds’ bills; a_ strong-billed 
small species may be more than a match for one with a 
bigger body and smaller beak. Insectivorous birds, if 
large, have a carnivorous tendency and are particularly 
untrustworthy with smaller companions. 
