Diseases. 147 



cages, very useful. Some fanciers, after first scraping and 

 washing their cages out, give them a good coating of paraffin 

 oil; let them stand twenty-four hours, and then wash again 

 with hot water, strongly impregnated with washing soda ; 

 and, lastly, rinse out with pure water, and then whitewash 

 them in the ordinary way. 



PHTHISIS. See under " Consumption." 



PIP. This is so called from a small pimple on the rump 

 in fact, it is the bird's lubricator, so to speak, it being 

 an oil gland, and contains oil used for trimming the plumage ; 

 it occasionally gets deranged, and swelling ensues. If it 

 appears to contain a mattery substance, it should, when ripe, 

 be let out with a fine sewing-needle, and a little oil or 

 moist sugar applied to the part. When it is ready to be 

 operated upon, the bird appears heavy and sleepy. When- 

 ever a bird is ill it should be removed to a cage kept 

 expressly for invalids a sort of hospital and when the 

 disease is of a contagious character, it should be removed 

 as far away from the locality of the bird-room as circum- 

 stances will permit. 



PNEUMONIA, OR INFLAMMATION OP THE LTJNOS. This disease 

 is very common among canaries, and is generally ushered in 

 by what is known as a common cold, usually caught during 

 inclement weather, or by travelling long journeys to shows, 

 or otherwise when the atmosphere is humid or foggy, or in 

 tempestuous or severely cold weather. The first symptoms 

 observable are shivering and dullness, the bird affected appearing 

 very quiet for a day or two, eating little, but throwing the seeds 

 about wantonly, and evidently in search of something it cannot 

 obtain. On the second or third day its feathers become rough, 

 and the patient looks cramped up and almost as round as a 

 ball; difficulty in breathing will be observed, and a sort of 

 dry, husky cough will be noticeable. In some cases there is 

 likewise soreness of the throat, and if these symptoms are not 

 relieved death will supervene in about forty-eight hours, more 

 or less, according to the constitution of the patient. First 



