ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



67 



monia. Incidentally, the U. S. Bureau of Ani- 

 mal Industry at Washington would not permit 

 it to be landed in the United States. 



BIRD SURGERY ON A WAXWING. 

 By Ernest F. Keller. 



ON E Sunday morning in the early fall of 

 1917, an automobile stopped at my gar 

 den gate and a small boy alighted, care- 

 fully carrying a paste-board box covered with 

 mosquito netting. 



The tall man that followed the boy through 

 the gate, I recognized as Mr. Frye, of Ridge- 

 wood, N. J., a brother member of the garden 

 club. .Master Frye being introduced, told me 

 that he had a little bird in the box which he 

 had rescued from a cat an hour before, and as 

 his father had told him how I cared for the 

 birds, he thought I might be able to do some- 

 thing for his feathered charge. 



The bird was a full grown cedar waxwing. 

 His right wing hung down limp, apparently 

 broken, but a careful examination showed that 

 only the flesh was badly lacerated, and that 

 the bones were intact. The bird seemed to 

 realize his helpless condition and exhibited not 

 the slightest fear. I offered him some raspber- 

 ries, which he devoured while perching on my 

 young friend's finger. 



After promising Master Frye that I would 

 do all in my power to make the little bird well, 

 he departed with his father, and I commenced 

 working over my patient. I carefully washed 

 the wounded wing with lysol solution and after 

 drying it with cotton, dusted it over with aristol. 

 After the wound was dressed. I had my son 

 hold tlic bird while I carefully placed the wing 

 in its natural position, and wound lantern slid. 

 binding-tape around the bird, covering the en- 

 tire wing, but leaving the lacerated tissues ex- 

 posed. After the gummed tape had dried, the 

 injured wing was immovably secured. I placed 

 the bird in a large box covered with wire net- 

 ting provided with a small branch, on which he 

 promptly perched and proceeded to preen his 

 feathers. This looked promising. The bird 

 showed interest in life. The only treatment I 

 gave him from now on was an occasional dust- 

 ing of the wound with aristol. 



On a diet of elderberries and meal worms 

 my patient seemed to lose no weight. I am sure 

 that his appetite was fine, and we were now so 

 thoroughly acquainted that he promptly an- 

 swered me with a very low melodious call, and 

 seemed much pleased when he hopped on my 



. 



A YOUNG WILD lilltl) SAMARITAN 



Master Frye with a Cedar Waxwing that lie rescued 



from a cat. Photograph by Mr. Keller. 



finger to be taken out for an airing. Strange 

 to say he never made a single attempt at flying. 

 After ten days the healing process had so favor- 

 ably progressed, that I considered it safe to 

 remove the tape. 



I prepared a warm bath in a suitable dish and 

 submerged my patient up to his neck for about 

 ten minutes. I could now remove the thoroughly 

 softened tape without trouble, and after rinsing 

 the bird in several changes of clean, warm wa- 

 ter to remove all traces of gum, I carefully 

 wiped my protege with cotton and set him on 

 the branch of a cedar tree in front of the porch. 



The last treatment was apparently the least 

 appreciated. My patient became so resentful 

 that he even tried to bite me, and he certainly 

 looked as if something awful had happened to 

 him. 



On examining the bird I found to my satis- 

 faction that the wound had healed perfectly; 

 the injured wing drooping a little. 



After sitting in the sunshine for about an 

 hour, the bird began to clean and arrange his 

 plumage. He worked particularly on the wing 

 that had been bandaged and to my astonish- 

 ment he finally flew from the cedar tree to the 

 top of a shrub near the fence, a distance of 

 about thirty feet, without an effort. From now 

 on I left my patient unrestricted. Of course 

 I furnished him meals, but he had to find his 

 own lodging. 



