BBD-WINQED PABBAKBET. 
75 
both the latter species have spoken distinctly to our knowledge; the 
former used to say “Pretty Dick, pretty Dick, pretty little Dickee; 
kiss, kiss, kiss, pretty little Dickee”: and the latter used to bow, spread 
out his tail, and repeat “Hip, hip, hurrah!” with the most remarkable 
correctness of intonation; he would also say, Peter (Pee-ter), his own 
name, quite distinctly, and we have no doubt would have learned many 
more words, had he not succumbed, prematurely, to an attack of that 
terribly fatal and insiduous disease, bird-fever, or bird-typhus as some 
writers and dealers name the frightfully infectious malady that now and 
then sweeps off the whole of the inmates of an aviary, with ci’uel and 
implacable swiftness. 
When this fell disease makes its appearance in a bird colony, the 
only chance of safety for any of its members consists in removing the 
yet healthy individuals to quite new, and, if possible, remote quarters, 
separately, whore this can be done, and ruthlessly destroying the old 
cages, in which the infection will linger for many montbs, and possibly 
for years: and that the destruction, total and complete, of the old 
tainted residences is the only certain way of preventing a recurrence 
of the disaster, is borne out by facts in our possession, where aviarists 
who had “thoroughly disinfected”, with carbolic-acid, sulphur, boiling 
water, and exposure to the air for many days, and even weeks, the 
cages in which an outbreak of fever” had taken place, found that 
new birds, previously healthy, when placed in them, often after a long 
interval, contracted the malady, and died in a few days. 
For this terrible complaint there seems to be no remedy, its symptoms 
are listnessness, loss of appetite, ruffling up of the feathers, great thirst, 
sometimes slight, rarely severe, diarrhma, loss of strength, and death 
in two or three days, sometimes in about as many hours. As we have 
said, there is no cure, it must be at once stamped out, and it is far 
better to immediately destroy the affected individuals by means of a 
merciful drop of prussic acid, and remove the survivors to more healthy 
quarters, maintaining the strictest quarantine until all chance of danger 
is past. 
As the complaint has a decided period of incubation, extending over 
a period of three or four days, it is always best when buying a new 
bird, to isolate it from its future companions for at least that space 
of time, when, if it still continues to appear '^all 7’ight , it may be 
introduced to its new associates, without fear of its conveying to them 
the germs of a terrible disease : prevention is better than cure, even 
where the latter is at least a possibility; what then when there is 
absolutely none? 
Red-wings being expensive birds, it will, of course, be policy to 
