DISORDERS OF TAME BIRDS. 17 



The first thing was to leave off hempseed entirely, confining 

 them solely to rape-seed ; but giving them at the same time 

 abundance of bread, soaked in pure water, and then pressed ; 

 lettuce, endive, or water-cresses, according to the seasons, twice 

 a week, giving them boiled bread and milk, about the size of 

 a nutmeg. This is made by throwing a piece of the crumb of 

 white bread, about the size of a nut, into a teacupful of milk, 

 boiling it, and stirring it all the time with a wooden spoon till 

 it is of the consistency of pap. It must be quite cold before it 

 is given to the birds, and must always be made fresh, for if sour 

 it will prove injurious. 



This paste, which they are very fond of, purges them suffi- 

 ciently, and sensibly relieves them. In very violent attacks, 

 nothing but this paste ought to be given for two or three days 

 following, and this will soon give the desired relief. 



When the disease is slight, or only begun, it is sufficient to 

 give the bread and milk once in three or four days. When 

 employed under similar circumstances, this treatment has cured 

 several very valuable birds. It may not be useless here to 

 renew the advice of always giving the birds an opportunity of 

 bathing every day, by putting in their way a saucer, or any 

 other small shallow bath, filled with water, which should never 

 be too cold, and in whiter always milk-warm. 



One thing which is very injurious to the lungs of birds, and 

 which too often occurs, is the fright occasioned by tormenting 

 them, or by seizing them too suddenly ; for the poor little 

 things often rupture a blood-vessel in the breast while beating 

 themselves about : a drop of blood in the beak is the sign, and 

 a speedy death is the general consequence. If this do not 

 happen, the breathing is not the less difficult and painful ; 

 and recovery is rare, at least without the greatest care and 

 attention. 



Birds which eat insects and worms, occasionally, by accident, 

 swallow some extraneous substance, which, sticking in their 

 throat, stops their respiration, and stifles them. The only 

 remedy is to extract the foreign body, which requires much 

 skill and dexterity. 



When asthma is brought on by eating seeds which are too 

 old, spoiled, or rancid, Dr. Handel recommends some drops of 

 oxymel to be swallowed for eight days following. But the best 



