PACKING AND SENDING AWAY : NURSING. 



31 



Passerine Do\e. 



Photo Mr. H. Will/o-d. 



you will send him a 

 gratuity, the sum depend- 

 ing on how many birds 

 he has had charge of, 

 their condition on arrival, 

 and the length of the 

 \oyage. 



I have always had the 

 birds sent to me in large 

 heavy crates, the front of 

 wire netting with muslin 

 underneath ; and so I 

 arrange for a light dray to 



meet them at the station, and walk them slowly 

 ■down to the house to avoid undue shaking. In 

 shipping birds an ample supply of food to last them 

 on the voyage should always be sent with them. 

 I once heard of a case where numbers of little 

 Gouldian Finches died on board ship, really from 

 starvation, because too little seed had been sent 

 "with them. 



Some dealers pack their birds very cruelly. I 

 once had nine little birds sent from a distance 

 without a drop of water in the cage — five were 

 quite dead. Another time some tin)' Fire Finches 

 Avere sent in a shallow box far too large, and with 



Violet Doves. 



•no perch at all — either one or two were dead. It 

 •makes one's heart ache to think how the poor little 

 mites must have been bruised and shaken on the 

 way, with no foot-hold in the box, and handled by 

 porters who possibly were too hurried to always 

 heed to keep the box stead)'. I would go so far as 

 to say, don't deal with any dealer (who should 

 know how to pack birds properly) who sends his 

 "birds out like this. If he neglects them in leaving 

 him, he probably neglects them whilst with him, 

 and I could not rely on such a man sending me 

 good birds. 



A few tools, such as a saw, hammer, screw- 

 driver, pincers and plyers (in one), a pricker, and 

 a box of mixed nails should be always kept down 

 In the aviary. You will often need them, and soon 



learn to use them. I always fit up my own travel- 

 ling boxes, and can now manage to saw a piece of 

 wood straight, or to hammer in a nail without 

 knocking my fingers. 



And now I come to my last notes, namely, how 

 to treat a bird in sickness. 



As well as 3'our tool chest, keep a stock of simple 

 remedies in the aviary. (This is where the little 

 seed-room shelves come in so useful.) Glycerine 

 for colds, a bottle of Branalcane for roup, 

 vaseline for wounds (which should be bathed 

 first with water if possible), olive oil for 

 egg-binding, and a little bottle of brandy — a tea- 

 spoonful will do, just to have it handy in cases of 

 collapse, where loss of time means loss of life — a 

 little clean rag and cotton wool, and a bottle of 

 "New Skin" (a kind of liquid court plaister), and 

 Syrup of Phosphate of Iron for a tonic for delicate 

 birds; one or two soft camel's-hair paint-brushes, 

 some quill toothpicks, a strong pair of nail 

 scissors, a flat hot water bottle, some small pieces 

 of flannel, and, last but not least, a hospital box 

 to put sick birds in. 



The latter is my own idea. For long I had been 

 dissatisfied with a cage for sick birds. With so 

 large a bird as a dove the door of an ordinary- 

 sized cage seemed far too small to pass the bird 

 in and out of, and the fright of catching it over 

 and over again did more harm than the remedies 

 did good. You cannot have a sick bird loose in an 

 aviary when j'ou want to catch it several times a 

 day, and, ■ besides, the other occupants might 

 molest it. 



So I bought a clean, empty box, to be kept just 

 for invalid birds. It is about 20 inches x 14 

 inches and 12 inches high. Be sure the wood is 

 smooth inside and that there are no strong 

 splinters. If you wish to be perfectly safe, tack a 

 strong paper lining inside, but I do not think it 

 is really necessary. Fix a broom handle perch 

 across the box an inch or so from the bottom. Do 

 not sprinkle sand on the floor, it might get into 

 the bird's eyes or into any wound, but fold some 

 pieces of brown paper just the size of the bottom of 

 the box, and put a fresh one in every day, sliding 

 it under the perch. A piece of wire cage fronting, 

 rather larger than the top of the box, forms the 

 lid, and simply rests on the top — it is not fastened 

 down in an}"- way. I think perhaps a wooden 

 frame covered tightly with strong string netting 

 of a small mesh would make a better cover than 

 the wire one, as there would then be no fear of a 

 bird knocking its head if it jumped upwards. I 

 will tell you later on how I use this box, but will 

 now go back to the uses of my simple remedies. 



For a Slight Cold. — A few drops of glycerine in 

 the w-ater fresh daily. Afterwards some Syrup of 



