840 
DISEASES AND TREATMENT. 
cause it, drinking impure water, and sometimes being infected with 
parasites. The remedy is spare diet, plenty of exercise, after cutting 
away the excrescences, and applying caustic to the parts. This 
disease is generally considered contagious. The birds so affected 
shoxild be separated from the rest as soon as possible. 
Gizzard-falling is the result of internal weakness, and is seldom 
curable. The bird which has this had better be killed at once; 
change of air may be tried, if it is a valuable one. 
Atrophy, or wasting of the flesh, requires a liberal supply of 
favourite food, and iron in the water. A rusty nail placed in the 
drinking-pan wiU do very well. Birds so affected have usually a 
large appetite for green food. Bechstein says, ' Supply them with 
water-cresses, and they will be cured.' 
Difficult Moulting generally arises from want of sti'cngth in the 
system, which should be nourished as much as possible with good 
*warm diet. The main difficulty generally is in moulting the wing 
feathers, the stumps of which will remain in the sockets. They 
should be extracted very tenderly with a small pair of tweezers. 
Parasites may be well classed under the head of diseases, as they 
are the most fruitful cause of sickness. The most common and 
troublesome of these pests is the mite ; it is about the size of a grain 
of poppy, and of a black colour, with white streaks across the body. 
The habit of this parasite is not to dwell constantly in the plumage 
of the bird, but to come out of the chinks and crevices where it 
hides by day, and to swarm over th^ Pigeons at night, feeding on 
their blood till they become quite red and swollen. It is the squabs 
which suffer most from these depredators ; they get into their ears, 
and make them lean and miserable, often causing death. A drop of 
oil in the ears, under the wings, and wherever else the mites appear, 
for the young ; powdered sulphur scattered in the nests, and dusted 
over the feathers of the old birds, are the best means of defence. 
Clearing the house of lice is a more difficult matter. Limewash 
and mercurial ointment have no effect. Stop all chinks and cracks ; 
let the woodwork be planed and painted ; let the birds have no hay 
for their nests, but heath and birch twigs ; do the walls with a wash 
of lime and sulphur; clean out often — this is a great point. 
Ticks are never so numerous as Mites, but perhaps more objec- 
tionable. They are sometimes as large as tares, and infest chiefly 
the head and back of the bird, making it very unsightly. They are 
difficult to catch, being very quick in their movements. Frequent 
washings, and powdered sulpbur, are the best remedies. 
Ftather-lice sometimes swarm beneath the wing feathers of Pigeons, 
without seeming to cause them much inconvenience ; indeed, some 
say they are of service, feeding on the down at the quill end of the 
feather, and so reducing the warmth of the bird's clothing in summer, 
when it is likely to be oppressive. They should, however, be got rid 
of, as much as possible, by the same means as those recommended 
for Ticks. 
