34 



MY FOREIGN DOVES AND PIGEONS, 



bird to die. 1 dreaded catcliing him, and remedies 

 seemed useless ; but he looked so piteous — listening 

 on all sides and turning his sightless eyes to trj' 

 and locate the sound — that I had not the heart to 

 leave him to his fate, though I had little hope of 

 cure. 



1 got some boracic lotion, the formula of an 

 oculist, and with this lotion in a little warm water 

 I bathed the Rufous pigeon's eyes, at first three 

 times a day, after some weeks' treatment only 

 once. In one eye the sight was well recovered ; 

 the other eye was much better, but there was a 

 small ulcer on the eyeball, which made it not so 

 satisfactory as the first. One curious feature was 

 the change of colour in the eye. When in health 

 the eye of a Rufous pigeon is like a living ruby, 

 but gradually in my sick bird the colour faded, 

 and the eye became quite pale ; but it recovered 

 the colour almost perfectly in the best eye, and 

 the other one improved. 



When first I began the bathing both eyes were 

 closed and so terribly swollen was the head that 

 its shape was quite distorted, the eyelids standing 

 out as if peas had been forced under the lids. 

 Gradually the swelling disappeared, altogether on 

 one side and nearly on the other. Most fortu- 

 nately, the bird could always eat, though how it 

 found its food I don't know. It is a good plan 

 when you put a blind bird in )'Our hospital box 

 to place its seed in a shallow dripping tin (a fair 

 size), and stand the patient in it. It will feel the 

 food then, and if it has any intelligence will learn 

 to pick it up. 



Now in doctoring birds a little thought is needed, 

 both to save yourself trouble and the patient pain, 

 and as knowledge only comes from experience and 

 this is written chiefly for beginners in aviculture, 

 it will perhaps not be quite wasted space to tell you 

 how to nurse a case of this kind. First, before 

 you catch your bird, get all the things you want 

 ready on a table. You need a small clean pot 

 partly filled with lukewarm water (cold water 

 would chill the eye too much), and to this add 

 about a third more of boracic lotion. To bathe the 

 eye use a small piece of medicated cotton wool, 

 and when bathing do not touch the eye, which will 

 be very tender, just squeeze the lotion over it. 



When the bathing is done press the wool dry 

 and with it mop up any drops that may have fallen 

 on the feathers. Be sure, and this is important, 

 to use fresh lotion and water, and fresh cotton 

 wool, every time you bathe the eye; don't make 

 an old lot do twice. 



Hold the dove in your left hand, against your 

 side, the thumb over the shoulder, the first finger 

 round across the breast, while the second finger 

 acts as a perch for the feet. Held in this way 



the bird is quite comfortable and a safe prisoner ; 

 it cannot get away, and its right wing being 

 pressed against you secures it on that side. 



A man has more advantage in this than a 

 woman, having a larger grip and firmer hand. 

 But with care and practice I find it quite easy to 

 manage by myself. In bathing the eyes don't 

 hurry. If the bird begins to try and jerk after a 

 bit, let it have a few seconds' rest to quiet down, 

 then start again. Don't let the lotion run into 

 the beak if you can help it; if you hold the bird 

 rather inclined downwards there will be less risk 

 of this happening. 



I have spolron of a "hospital" box to put sick 

 birds in. In the case of thio Rufous pigeon, it 

 lived for some time in this box, for, of course, it 

 needed catching many times, and could not have 

 been caught up each time from the aviary, and 

 also it had to be kept in the shade on account of 

 its eyes. I want to tell you now how to manage 

 to get your bird in and out of a box like this, and 

 make it fresh and clean without having anyone to 

 help you, and without distressing the bird. 



First fill a duplicate pot with seed and another 

 with water, and put them handy where you can 

 easily reach them, or if the bird is not nervous, 

 take out the old pots and replenish them first. 

 The wire lid to your box must be quite loose, made 

 of firm, heavy wire and just laid on the top, not 

 in any way fastened down, as you want to slide 

 your arms under it when catching the bird. In 

 catching use both hands, and get the thumbs well 

 over the back, keeping the wings down. You can 

 manage to get the patient out of the box quite 

 comfortably by raising the lid with your arms 

 when you have once caught the bird. It only 

 needs a little practice, and I did everything by 

 myself for this special bird for weeks. When you 

 have finished bathing the bird's eyes, hold it firmly 

 against your left side, and with your free right 

 hand put the "hospital" in order before returning 

 the patient. Take out the paper from the floor of 

 the box, turn up the box and knock any seed or 

 bits out, put in your fresh paper, sliding it under 

 the perch, and put inside the box the fresh seed 

 and water. It is all quite easy to do this with one 

 hand, provided you make j'our preparations first. 



When 3'ou have done this, replace the wire lid 

 on the box (the lid should be slightly larger than 

 the top) before you put back the bird. You can 

 now raise the lid with one finger, and with both' 

 hands carefully place the bird, its back towards 

 you, on the perch, when it will be probably quite 

 quiet. You may think all these little details un- 

 necessary, but if you try to replace the patient with 

 one hand it will most likely struggle, and if you ■ 

 try to put the bird in first and the lid on after- 



