278 a hand-book of the management of animals 



Treatment in health. 



Housing.— The macaws should be treated like the cockatoos ; the 

 amazons also do equally well as cage birds ; the conures are generally 

 harmless and may be kept in an aviary. 



Food. — Grains, seeds, vegetables, fruits, bread, and biscuits. 



Treatment in sickness. 



Macaws have been known to contract the very bad habit of pluck- 

 ing their own feathers — a disease to which parrots in captivity appear 

 to be particularly subject ; it is believed to be generally brought on by 

 want of occupation, or excitement caused by too nourishing a diet ; 

 the taste of blood which the bird gets from sucking the feathers stimu- 

 lates it to persist in the habit, which gradually becomes so inveterate as 

 to baffle treatment. Tin collars, bathing with wine, or a decoction of 

 aloes or quassia, and various other remedies have been recommended. 

 One of the macaws in this garden continued for four years a victim 

 to this habit, and of the various remedies tried nothing succeeded better 

 than a change of habitation. 



Observations on their habits. 



The macaws have almost the same habits as the cockatoos ; the 

 amazons are quiet, sedate, and generally undemonstrative birds. 



(211) THE INDIAN BAEN OWL. 



(STEIX JAVANICA— Gmel.) 

 Bengali — Lakhmi-penchd. 

 Hah. — Found all over India and Ceylon, and extends to Burmah 

 and Malayana ; at least two forms of barn owl are commonly met 

 with — one very light coloured, and the other darker. 



Length of life in captivity. 



Bears captivity well, but the species being very common and well 

 known is not always exhibited. 



(212) THE GRASS OWL. 

 (STEIX CANDIDA— Tlckell.) 



Diagnosis. — Above brown, feathers with black shafts, and minutely 

 spotted with a subterminal white ; beneath yellowish white, with small 

 brown specks. 



Hab. — Found throughout India, but nowhere very common; 

 it has been also recorded from Tenasserim, Philippine Islands, and 

 Formosa. 



