32 THE PAKROT TRIBES. 
During the moulting period, parrots require great care and 
attention. Sometimes considerable pain and difficulty attend 
the operation, and two or even three months will he thus 
miserably passed by the poor bird. The only way in which 
you can aid him is by giving him extra nourishment and 
keeping him as warm as possible. It is a g£>od plan to cover 
the cage entirely with brown paper. Add saffron to the bird’s 
drinking-water, so that it is the colour of pale sherry. A 
biscuit (without seeds) soaked in milk, in which a few chilli pods 
have been boiled, is a good thing to give occasionally. 
The most healthy birds will sometimes be troubled with 
ugly wart -like excrescences. Occasionally they will grow as large 
as a pigeon’s egg. Pass a piece of fine silk cord round the base 
of the tumour, and at each end of the cord make a loop ; secure 
the cord round the excrescence by passing a small wooden peg 
through the loops ; every other morning give the peg a twist, 
so as to draw the cord a little tighter, and in a short time the 
tumour will wither and fall off. Provided you manage the 
tightening of the cord with care, the operation will be attended 
with little or no pain. It will, however, be a long time — 
indeed, not till the next moult — before the bald place caused 
by the tumour will be covered with feathers. 
