INTRODUCTION. 25 



of a night, and if they are observed to be frequently feeling 

 with their beaks about the abdomen, back, or wings, they must 

 be examined to see if no small yellow insects, (lice or mites,) 

 may be discovered upon the body, or between the feathers. 

 If this be the case, they must be sprinkled by means of a small 

 syringe with water, in which quicksilver has been steeped, or 

 with a much diluted infusion of tobacco, for several suc- 

 cessive days, whereby these vermin are destroyed or chased 

 away. Another mode of getting rid of the lice is to bathe the 

 birds frequently, and to give them, daily, fresh or dry sand, 

 and to be very particular in keeping them exceedingly clean. 



Unnatural Fatness. — If it be found that the birds become 

 unnaturally fat, which is often the case, especially during 

 autumn, in some species of warblers, their too nutritious food 

 must be changed and Swedish turnips, (ruta-bagas,) be mixed 

 in it, and dry ants' eggs put into their drink, which much 

 checks their corpulency. 





