The Fkkt of Birds in Captivity. 77 



XL 



THE FEET OF BIRDS IN CAPTIVITY. 



B}' Katharine Currey. 



Caged birds very often suiier iu their feet, and, after many 

 years of bird-keeping. I have come to the conclusion that a bird's 

 foot can be made and kept quite sound and healthy (provided of 

 course there is no hopeless crippledom or disease) by fulfilling 

 two conditions — a constant supply of fresh earth, as well as sand 

 and gravel, and giving the bird the opportunit)' of changing the 

 position of its feet and toes. 



A bird's foot needs exercise as much as a human hand. 

 Watch the wild bird in a tree, how constantly he changes the 

 position of his legs and feet. Now the foot is spread out ; now 

 tightly clenched round a slender twig: now relaxed as he grasps 

 a bough; now he hangs upside down, suspended by his feet; 

 now holds on to a bough aslant, one leg drawn up, the other 

 stretched out — always a change of position. If a bough is not 

 placed in a cage, then the perches should be of different sizes, 

 and some slanting, some almost upright. Further, I have often 

 noticed that a wild bird chooses a living branch to perch on in 

 preference to a dead one. Is it the electricity in the living 

 bough that responds, in some way, or the electricity in the bird's 

 foot, or is there a subtle warmth in the live wood that is agree- 

 able to the touch ? The fresh earth seems to me of almost equal 

 importance for the feet. 



Earth has a magnetic healing influence, as well for birds 

 as for man, and I have found the effect of daily contact with fresh 

 earth wonderful for weak or suffering feet of birds I have kept. 



