•288 Canaries and Cage-Birds. 



or congested state of the mucous membrane suspected, ipecacuanha and opium in conjunction 

 will do good — say of the tincture of laudanum fifteen drops, of the wine of ipecacuanha 

 thirty drops, with three or four grains of nitrate of potash, to a wine-glassful of drinking-water. 

 About twenty drops of tincture of catechu, added to the bird's chalk-mixture, is often very 

 effectual in checking the purging. Some care will be required of the bird after he is cured 

 of the diarrhoea ; add the grated yolk of hard-boiled egg to the food, and give a bitter tonic 

 for about a week. (Gentian is extolled by some ; it is an excellent bird tonic, but it should be 

 remembered that it has a tendency to relax the bowels, and should therefore be avoided in treating 

 this complaint.) We find cascarilla bark do well. The infusion is made by steeping half an ounce 

 of it in five ounces of boiling water for an hour, and afterwards straining. The dose is a dessert- 

 spoonful to the drinking-water. Other tonics which we have used are the dilute nitro-hydrochloric 

 acid, ten drops to the bitter water, and Schacht's liquor of bismuth ; and we should not forget 

 calumba infusion. It is made like the infusion of cascarilla, only with cold water instead of boiling. 

 It is a capital reinvigorating tonic. 



Constipation. — This is an ailment from which Canaries sometimes suffer, resulting in loss of 

 appetite and general dulness of the bird. It is usually caused by some error in the diet, and 

 although in bad cases a little oil should be given to effect relief, permanent cure of the complaint 

 should be effected through the medium of the food. Groundsel, watercress, and other green foods 

 maybe given in the summer-time; and the tender leaves of young dandelion, and in winter German 

 paste, with a little cayenne and sugar, will do good. Give also in winter a slice of ripe apple, or a 

 slice or two of well-boiled carrot. The water in either case ought to be sweetened with glycerine, 

 which is an excellent tonic and laxative ; and a dessert-spoonful of the infusion of gentian also 

 added to the drink. 



Inflammation of the Bowels. — This disease, which by the medical practitioner is termed 

 enteritis, is one of the most serious by which a bird can be attacked. The causes most likely to 

 produce it are over-eating, especially of too stimulating food, partaking of bread-and-milk which 

 has become sour, or green food which is in a state of decomposition. Again, the water for drinking, 

 which ought to be fresh every morning, is sometimes left for days. If it has not been very good 

 when placed in the drinking-glass, and afterwards receives the addition of particles of green food, 

 &c., it becomes next thing to an irritant poison, and is very likely to cause inflammation. 



The symptoms are those of much suffering and acute pain in the regions affected. The bird 

 is dull and drooping, cares little to move about, has no note, and often lies on the belly on his 

 perch ; there is loss of appetite and urgent thirst, the bowels are usually very costive ; but at times 

 this may be the reverse, and we get diarrhoea, with frequent straining at stool. An additional 

 symptom sometimes present is frequent vomiting of the offensive products of inflammation, or of 

 bile and mucus. Manual examination, which must be conducted very gently, will reveal a swollen 

 and distended condition of the lower part of the abdomen, with some change of colour, varying, 

 according to the stage of the disorder, from pale to dark red, amounting in very dangerous cases 

 to an almost black hue. 



If taken at once, inflammation of the bowels may be cured, but the treatment must be decided. 

 As we advised in diarrhoea, let the bird be put in a clean dry cage and hung in a warm well- 

 ventilated room, and the food changed. The latter must be entirely non-stimulating, but at the 

 same time nourishing ; arrowroot biscuit, mixed with new milk, to which may be added a little 

 moist sugar. This should be all the bird has for a day or two. The bowels — if constipation be 

 present, and if the case has been seen at the commencement — should be opened with two or three 

 drops of pure oil ; but if much inflammation has taken place, purgatives should not be employed. 



