INTRODUCTION. vii 



on, to give it the same food; after having had the bird for some time, say 

 a week or so, during which period it must on no account be exposed to 

 any cold, but the temperature be kept even, say about 70 , the baize cover 

 may be gradually removed, and the bird accustomed to the ordinary temper- 

 ature of the house, but in any case it will be well to cover it up at night. 



We now come to a point which is of the utmost importance to observe, 

 namely, the treatment of a newly-purchased Parrot during the night. Many 

 people are apt to forget that when the light and the fire are out during 

 the night in a room which had been very warm during the day-time, the 

 temperature falls a considerable number of degrees, and the bird gets chilled, 

 and too often dies. If the owner has a fire in her bed-room, let her 

 take the cage up with her when she is going to bed herself, but if not, 

 let the fire be well banked up before retiring to rest, and let no housemaid 

 enter the room in the morning before the mistress of the bird: for house- 

 maids, as a rule, even when not actually inimical to Parrots, are utterly 

 regardless of them, and have a habit of throwing up the window, even on 

 the coldest morning, and letting the chilly outside air blow in keenly on 

 the bird, which feels it all the more from having been kept snug and 

 warm before; and it is this mauvais quart d'heure in the morning before 

 the fire is lit, and while the room is being "dusted", that is fatal to so 

 many Parrots, whose owners wonder how "poor Polly" can possibly have 

 taken cold. 



It may here be asked, "Supposing my Parrot to have taken cold, what 

 is the best course to adopt?" Well, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, 

 the bird will, in spite of every care, gradually get worse and die; but in 

 the hundreth "she" has an extraordinarily good constitution, and if kept 

 in an equable temperature of from 70 to 75 , and fed on soft food, soaked 

 bread and boiled maize, for instance, and has tepid or lukewarm water to 

 drink, she will recover: but prevention is better than cure; see that your 

 bird does not catch cold, and you will not have the trouble of nursing it, 

 and the grief of seeing it suffer, and probably die. 



Avoid purchasing a Parrot in the winter time, and especially avoid having 

 one sent to you a long distance by rail; but curb your natural impatience 

 to become the owner of a Parrot until summer, and, where practicable, 

 carry home your prize from the place where you have bought it; and, 

 having got it home, see that is exposed to no draught, even in summer, 

 but is gradually accustomed to the ordinary variations of temperature in 

 your house. 



