2^ THE CANARY. 



bruised the seed with it, mix it with the 

 bread which you have previously scalded, 

 so as to make a kind of paste. 



This disorder generally proceeds from 

 the bird's taking cold, either through being 

 hung in a draught of air, or more frequently 

 from their being allowed too much water to 

 wash in, a circumstance which ought parti- 

 cularly to be guarded against, more especially 

 when the birds are moulting, as .at such 

 times they are extremely tender, and apt to 

 take cold, owing partly to the disordered 

 state of their bodies, and partly owing to 

 their being thin of feathers ; the more indeed 

 that the birds be kept from the cold air 

 whilst moulting, the better, for I have known 

 many valuable birds lost, by being stopped 

 in their moult, through taking cold. 



When a bird begins to drop its feathers, 

 I strongly recommend that the cage be 

 covered over with baize, or flannel, so as to 

 keep it quite warm, by which means the 

 bird will throw off its old plumage, and get 

 its new much quicker and handsomer, than 

 when it is allowed to moult in an open cage ; 

 the sooner also that a bird gets through its 



