CHAPTER V. 



Diseases. 



Geneeal Eemarks. — All birds are more or less liable to 

 disease, but more particularly so when kept in cages and 

 aviaries. The want of sufficient exercise, fresh air, and change 

 of diet are doubtless the chief causes. Birds in a wild state 

 do not suffer from want of exercise or fresh air, but they 

 frequently do from want of proper and nourishing food during 

 the winter and early spring months ; and it is at this time 

 that they are most liable to disease, and more particularly to 

 Rheum and Diarrhcea, to which complaints they not infre- 

 quently fall victims. 



Over-feeding, neglect, and bad food, produce more than 

 half the illnesses from which birds die ; and it is well, 

 therefore, to remember the quaint old saying, that "Pre- 

 vention is better than cure," and endeavour to keep the birds 

 in health by supplying them with a plain, wholesome diet, 

 taking care never to give either soft or green food unless 

 perfectly fresh, and to always procure the best seed. 



Apoplexy. — This disease is very fatal in its effects ; but 

 wild birds are not so prone to it as birds bred and reared 

 in confinement. Occasionally, however, birds which have 

 been kept for a length of time in cages are attacked by it. 

 The cause arises, in most cases, from a too long continuation 

 of over-heating food, and want of a more frequent change 

 of diet. Birds seized with this malady drop from the perch 

 in a moment, sometimes in the middle of their song, and 

 struggle violently at the bottom of the cage, as if in great 



