114 CANARIES 



is a fruitful source of sore feet. During the breeding 

 season, the hens are Hable to get their feet clogged with 

 the nesting material ; the sand and excreta adhere to 

 this, and sore feet are the result. The bird affected 

 should be caught, its feet soaked in warm water, all dirt 

 removed, and the sores anointed with a little vaseline 

 or spermaceti ointment. 



Swollen Joints. 



These sometimes occur through the bird getting caught 

 by the feet in the wires of the cage. The parts affected 

 should be well bathed in warm water, and painted with 

 Friar's Balsam. 



Tumours. 



Canaries are not often troubled with tumours yet 

 occasionally they make their appearance. The part 

 usually affected is the beak and head. Tumours 

 are caused by a stoppage of the natural secretions of 

 the skin. They differ from abscesses in that there is 

 no inflammation attending their growth. Immediately 

 a tumour make its appearance the bird affected should be 

 taken to a veterinary surgeon. It is not advisable for a 

 fancier to attempt treating it himself. 



Tympany. 



Hens are often affected with Tympany during the 

 breeding season. The skin becomes inflated with air, 

 but the bird does not seem inconvenienced thereby, 

 The distended skin may be pricked with a needle previously 

 dipped in boiling water, or held in the flame of gas, or 

 candle, for a moment, to sterilise it. Never use a pin 

 The air will then escape, and the skin resume its normal 

 appeal ance. 



Typhoid, or Bird Fever. 



Typhoid is a disease, I am thankful to say, which never 

 visited my own aviary, but I have seen its ravages in 

 the rooms of other fanciers. Several fanciers known to me 

 have had their aviaries attacked, and the result in each 

 case has been the death of nearly every bird in the place. 



