A CAUTION TO FANCIERS. 73 



ing a ring round the neck the poor birds have a 

 bad time of it. Rub the ointment well over, 

 and in a day or two the nits will be shrivelled 

 to nothing. 



I think MEGRIMS is nothing more nor less than 

 insects getting mastery of the birds in this pro- 

 voking manner, attacking the head and inducing 

 giddiness. I am supported in my theory by a 

 correspondent of the " Stock Keeper," who wrote 

 stating that he had discovered a cure for this 

 otherwise incurable disease : " I took all the 

 feathers off the top of the head, kept the bird in 

 a pen, and within four weeks it was in perfect 

 health again." Certainly it was, if my theory be 

 correct. By plucking the feathers off the head, 

 you remove the nits and insects which cause the 

 complaint ; and if the bird has not crossed the 

 invisible boundary line between life and death, 

 there is nothing left for it but to recover. 



Another place where vermin lie in wait upon 

 their victims is above the vent upwards, on either 

 side the keel of the breast-bone — al^o on the 

 under side of the wing. If the bird be badly 

 overrun, apply a little ointment each day till the 

 cure is effected. Don'i use too much of it' at a 

 time, or the remedy may be worse than the disease. 

 It is an unfailing remedy. No Pigeon-Fancier 



