on the Transport op Birds.



337



very dirty, it might be advisable to use salt water rather than

nothing. On my first voyage abroad I relieved the monotony

of life by washing the unhappy ducks in the ships’ hen-coops in

salt water, to the great improvement of their condition ; but then,

being ordinary tame ducks, they could be let out on deck.

Flapping and exercising to dry after bathing is of course im¬

portant; hence it is well to think twice before one wets the

plumage of a bird cooped up.


Other birds than waterfowl are often somewhat special

in their transport requirements, and these groups may now be

dealt with.


Game-birds, such as the pheasant and partridge tribe,

sandgrouse, and tinamous, are given to springing up with ex¬

plosive violence on alarm, and hurting their heads. Hence the

top of their cages should be well padded, or have a canvas

ceiling strained a little below the wooden top. It is in their

case especially that the allowance of as little head-room as is

consistent with comfort is desirable. On the other hand, birds

like Hornbills, which have long bills and jerk them up when

swallowing, need more head-room than one would at first be

inclined to allow them when the bill is in the usual horizontal

position.


Large birds with long tails, like Pies and pheasants, are

often better accommodated by having their trains clipped ; in the

case of the cock Argus it may be necessary to clip the long

secondaries also. It should be remembered that long-billed

birds, and some short-billed ones also, which drink by scooping

up the water as it were, cannot drink easily if at all out of a pot,

and need a long vessel. If this is inconvenient for a cage, it

must be introduced twice a day. Ground-birds with very small

feet, like Sand-grouse, Bustards and Thick-knee Plovers, need a

very close-barred wooden grating to the floor lest their legs slip

through ; in their case it is best to substitute sand, saw dust, or

mats frequently changed, if obtainable, though on the Chinese

style of flat-barred cane floors with bars only half-an-inch apart

anything could travel. Dusting accommodation for birds such

as game-birds, can be dispensed with, just as water for water¬

bathing birds, 'during a voyage. But it is much more easily



