WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



becomes adult he is liable without notice to attack and 

 kill, or much injure, the persons who have petted and 

 reared him. 



ON EEABING PHEASANTS AND OTHER BIRDS. 



A few remarks upon the breeding and rearing of the 

 young of the various kinds of game birds and of domestic 

 fowls may, at this season of year, be acceptable to those of 

 our readers who are interested in the subject. 



Although most breeders, especially gamekeepers, know, 

 or profess to know, everything required to attain success 

 in those matters, yet it is a notorious fact that a vast 

 number of them naeet with disastrous failures, through 

 causes quite unforeseen by, and unknown to, those who 

 pretend to be so thoroughly acquainted with the subject, 

 that, according to their ideas, to be unsuccessful would be 

 an impossibility. 



Of all diseases that prove fatal to the young of the 

 gallinaceous birds none is more to be feared and to be 

 guarded against than that commonly called the gapes. 

 This troublesome disorder is so well known that it does 

 not require more than a passing remark. It is caused by 

 the existence of a parasitic worm in the trachea or wind- 

 pipe of the chick. The attempts of the unfortunate bird to 

 expel, by coughing or sneezing, this leech-like bloodsucker 

 are most distressing, and the increased size or numbers of 

 the worms so obstruct the breathing of the bird that it 

 dies partly from its exhausted state and partly from the 

 complete obstruction in the breathing or air passages. 



There is scarcely a gamekeeper in the kingdom who has 

 not a certain cure for this fell complaint, and many pro- 

 fess to know at least half-a-dozen perfect remedies, but, 

 like most quacks, when applying any one of them, it 

 fails to effect a cure, and the death of the patient is 

 attributed to some other cause. 



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