130 The Canary. 



applied. We then dressed it with arnica diluted in 

 water, in the proportion of four or five drops of the 

 former to half a teacupful of the latter, which soon 

 had the desired effect. For a time the centre toe was 

 quite stiff and useless, being swollen to twice the thick- 

 ness of the others, but by degrees we reduced this by 

 the arnica and the bathing, until at length a perfect 

 cure was effected, and now she is one of the healthiest 

 and cleanest, as well as most highly-prized birds in 

 our aviary. Such a bad case as this can only happen 

 through gross neglect and filthy habits ; birds may 

 sometimes have sore feet, however cleanly their apart- 

 ments may be kept, and however well they may be 

 supplied with water to bathe in, from the hardness of 

 the old scales, but these may easily be softened and 

 the soreness abated, by simply bathing them for five or 

 ten minutes in warm water a few times in the day. 

 In nine cases out of ten, this is all that will be found 

 necessary, but if not, the treatment pursued above will 

 soon effect a cure. 



The next ailment that came under our notice was an 

 attack of diarrhoea, which is a somewhat dangerous 

 complaint, especially amongst high-bred birds. Hap- 

 pily for us, we had only one case, but it was the 

 highest personage of our aviary, in fact no other than 

 Sultan, the king of the Belgians. Like all the rest of 

 his tribe, he was always, though very robust in his 

 appearance, a very tender bird. The piercing cold of 

 winter soon told tales about his constitution, and a 

 severe attack of diarrhoea was the result. Fortunately 

 we took it in time, and removed him to the hospital- 



