234 The Canary Bird. 



newed daily, until the nestlings can feed themselves. The female 

 has generally three broods in the year, but wjll hatch five times 

 in the season, each time laying six eggs. 



Theprocess of moulting, which takes place five or six weeks 

 after they are hatched, is frequently fatal to them. The best 

 remedy yet known is to put a small piece of iron into the water 

 they drink, keeping them warm during the six weeks or two 

 months which generally elapse before they regain their strength. 

 This malady to which they are all subject, is often fatal to the 

 female after the sixth or seventh year; and even the male, though 

 from superior attention may recover, and continue occasionally to 

 sing, and survive his mate four or five years. He appears melan- 

 choly from this period, till he gradually droops, and falls a victmi 

 to this evil. 



If it is proposed to rear gay birds, the male and female should 

 be of the same deey) color; if mottled birds are required, both pa- 

 rents should be mottled. When a gay bird and a fancy bird are 

 matched, they are termed mule birds, because they are irregularly 

 mottled in their plumage, and therefore of no value, although they 

 are equally good singers. The spangled or French canary cock, 

 with a mealy hen, often produce beautiful varieties. 



The most common cause of disease in these birds proceeds from 

 a superabundance of food, which brings on repletion. In this case 

 the intestines descend to the extremities of the body, and appear 

 through the skin, while the feathers on the part affected fall ofl", 

 and the poor bird, after a few days, pines and dies. If the dis- 

 ease is not too far gone, putting them in separate cages, and con- 

 fining them to the cooling diet of water and lettuce seed, may 

 save the lives of many. They are also subject to epilepsy, asth- 

 ma, ulcers in the throat, and to extinction of the voice- The 

 cure for the first is doubtful; it is said that if a drop of blood fall 

 from the bill, the bird will recover life and sense; but if touched 

 prior to falling off itself, it will occasion death. If they recover 

 from the first attack, they frequently live for many years without 

 any alteration in their note. Another cure is to inflict a slight 

 wound in the foot. Asthma is cured by plantain, and hard bis- 

 cuit soaked in w'hite wine; while ulcers, like repletion, must be 

 cured by cooling food. For extinction of voice, the cure ought 

 to be the hard yolk of eggs, chopped up with crumbs of bread, 

 and for drink a little liquorice root, or a blade of saffron in water. 

 In addition to these evils, the canary is infected by a small in- 

 sect, if they are kept dirty. To avoid this, they should have 

 plenty of water to bathe in, a new cage, covered with new cloth, 

 and their seeds well sifted and washed. These attentions, if troub- 



