]50 



stumps of new feathers, which gives them a very disagreeable appearance for a short 

 time, greatly altering the proportions of their shape, disguising them so much the 

 Fancier scarcely knows his own birds. Should he chance to go out of town for a 

 month or six weeks at this particular season, he would on his return have great diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing one from another, from the great alteration that takes place, for 

 in general they acquire more colour and get darker every year, particularly the cock 

 birds. They do not get completely out of moult till November ; I have seen them 

 . moulting even later than this. Towards the close of the season, when the birds are in 

 the worst stage of their moulting, and the weather is gradually getting colder, warmth 

 is necessary in order to assist them in casting their feathers kindly. Notwithstanding 

 this, I do not think it right to shut up the aviary or loft, running the risk of aflfecting 

 the health of the birds in general, making them tender on account of a few that are not 

 so well as the others, for air is as necessary as warmth ; such as are unusually ill should 

 be taken and put in a pen, in a room where there is a fire, giving them a pill or two 

 of aloes and rhubarb wdth some seed. If they do not begin to moult freely with this 

 treatment, some of their rump and tail feathers should be pulled out, which will some- 

 times set them into moult ; it will be proper to give all the birds a handful of hemp or 

 rapeseed eveiy daj^, which will warm them and make them conafortable, and greatly 

 assist by such warmth to cast tbe feather. 



447. Some birds that are delicate will not blow their flights and tails kindly, which 

 will be seen on examining them ; they will be found covered with a sheath or cylinder 

 to the very tip or extremity of what should be the feather, giving it the appearance of 

 a thin skewer ; when this is perceived it is a sign of weakness ; the bird should be kept 

 warm ; if it could be spared from the loft, the feather will blow freely, as warmth as- 

 sists the feather in blowing, so cold or damp weather will make the husk or sheath 

 tough, and prevent its drying and scaling ofi", as it will do in hot weather ; the feather 

 will perish. If the bird cannot be spared from the aviary or loft to be kept warm, the 

 hask should be peeled off as far as it is tolerably dry ; care must be taken the feather 

 is not puUed out, as the one that succeeds it, if any does succeed, wiU be worse than 

 the one so drawn ; most likely be nothing more than a mere stump or perished feather ; 

 care must be taken not to make it bleed. The best way I have found to moult the 

 birds was to imagine I was fatting the birds for the spit, believing a bird would not die 

 of moulting provided it was fat ; on the contrary, I am certain a poor, lean, emaciated, 

 half-starved bird cannot by any means throw its feather ; the only way I ever found to 

 cause it to moult was to get it in high condition ; then it moulted without any fur- 

 ther trouble of mine. I believe I could never get the birds so fat as when I gave them 

 wheat. If you want to get your birds well through the moult, get them as fat as you 

 possibly can, and a httle saffron in their water is likewise very beneficial. 



OF VERMIN. 



448. These birds like every other kind, have their peculiar species of vermin, the 

 most troublesome are a sort of louse, not unlike in their colour to those found upon 

 persons of filthy habits, of a different shape, being nearly round, about half the size ; 

 they nm incredibly swift, on turning up the feathers on the belly, disappear in an in- 

 stant ; they harbour in the short feathers on the underpart of the rump, close to the 

 quills on the tail feathers ; are to be found in greater abundance on the belly, near the 

 vent, where the bird cannot reach them. If the bird is very foul, the roots of the fea- 

 thers will be clotted with nits or eggs, and swarms of these insects will run away in 

 every direction the moment the feathers are turned up ; they also inhabit the neck, 

 where they likewise deposit their eggs in great abundance, being there safe fi-om de- 

 struction till they arrive at maturity, when they descend to the belly part for suste- 

 nance. Birds with wry, crooked, or hooked beaks are most subject to these vermin, 

 being from those defects less able to destroy them, and should therefore be particularly 

 attended to. 



449. The best remedy, beyond all doubt, is the wnguent. mercur., commonly called 

 blue ointment, rubbed on the parts', not in such quantity as to affect the bird, a small 

 portion is sufficient ; this should not be rubbed about the head or neck, only on the 

 belly ; the clotted or nitted feathers pulled off, will clear the way for the application of 

 the ointment ; by the next day he will not be able to find any vermin of that kind upon 

 the birds. They should be examined now and then, as the nits in the neck, which 



