20 THE CANARYv 



milk ought to be sparingly administered, it 

 being apt to make them too weak and re- 

 laxed ; indeed it ought never to be given 

 unless the hen be seriously unwell. 



It occasionally happens also that the hen 

 finds great difficulty in laying her egg, a 

 complaint which is sometimes very fatal; 

 when this occurs, I have found that the least 

 drop of salad oil applied to the parts, has 

 afforded them immediate relief, and enabled 

 them to lay their egg with ease ; a warm 

 bath is also a good thing when the hen is 

 in this state. As soon as you observe that 

 she labours under this difficulty, take her 

 gently out of the cage, and hold her body 

 in some warm water for a few minutes ; in 

 doing this, however, the greatest care must 

 be taken that you do not break the egg, for in 

 that case you would run great risk of losing 

 the bird. When you have given the hen the 

 warm bath, put her carefully back again 

 into the breeding cage, when she will go on 

 her nest, and lay her egg with the greatest 

 ease, as I have frequently seen, 



Canary birds are also subject to the pip, 

 which is a little pimple that comes on the 



