Diseases of Pigeons. 63 



a painful one, but is compensated for by the after comfort of the bird, 

 and the hole caused by the operation soon fills up. 



Vertigo or the Megrims is an affection of the brain, causing the bird 

 to turn its head right round, and making it faU over and flutter about. 

 Although not an uncommon disease, I have fortunately never been 

 much troubled with it among my pigeons. I think it ia incurable, and, 

 acting on that idea, have killed any birds so affected as soon as pos- 

 sible, to get them out of the way. 



Wing disease is common to every variety of fancy pigeon. It can 

 generally be detected before the bird loses all power of flight by the 

 one-sided way in which it flies. When so observed, a bird will be found 

 to have a swelling on some of the joints of its wings. An almost 

 certain cure at this stage of the disease ia not only to draw both primary 

 and secondary flight feathers, but to almost strip the wing itself of all 

 feathers except the small downy ones. The great flow of blood to the 

 new feathers draws off the matter that would form in the swelled joint, 

 and by the time the wing ia refurnished, all signs of the sweUing will 

 have disappeared, and the bird will fly as before. Having succeeded in 

 this way in curing scores of pigeons, I can recommend it as the best 

 thing to do. Formerly the cure was to leech the swelling, or to wait 

 tiU matter formed and then lance it ; but not one bird out of a dozen 

 will fly again after being cut about the joint, as the tendons are apt 

 to get severed. "When the same disease attacks the thigh joint it is not 

 so easily cured, but in my experience it seldom does so as compared to 

 the wing. The old writers divided this disease into the flesh wen and 

 the bone wen, but the one is only an intensified form of the other. If 

 taken in time, it may generally be cured by the method stated. 



