300 



British Cage Birds. 



be provided with a perch on which to roost. A wooden 

 hat peg, fixed in a corner of a room, or by the side of a 

 window, will answer the purpose quite well. Eobins are 

 fond of bathing, and, when the weather is not too cold, a 

 bath should be supplied to them about three times a week, 

 as it is conducive to their health. A few shreds of saffron, 

 or a bit of liquorice (Spanish juice), placed in their drinking- 

 water occasionally, will be found a good incentive to singing. 



Diseases and their Treatment. — Robins, when confined in 

 cages, if not kept warm, and given a frequent change of 

 food, are very subject to the cramp. Should a bird be 

 attacked, place its legs and feet in a bath of rather warm 

 water — say a teacupful — to which should be added a tea- 

 spoonful of the spirit of ammonia, and twenty drops of 

 laudanum. Keep them immersed for fifteen or twenty 

 minutes, then dry them with a silk handkerchief, and after- 

 wards warm at the fire. The first week or ten days following 

 the attack a slight sprinkling of cayenne pepper should be 

 mixed with the bird's food. 



The Robin is very subject to vertigo, or giddiness in the 

 head ; the best remedy for this is an occasional earwig. If 

 at any time a bird be found sickly and drooping, or its appe- 

 tite fails, a few woodlice (to be found in any old, rotten 

 piece of wood), or a few mealworms or spiders, will speedily 

 put it right. For treatment in diarrhoea, or constipation of the 

 bowels, see directions given in the chapter on " The Nightin- 

 gale." 



