THE CANAHY. 
three successive mornings after these fits, a drop of spirits of 
nitre in his water will do hhn no harm. 
If yon see yonr bird’s tail drooping downward, or if the fea- 
thers about the rump are rough and touzled, you may conclude 
that the poor little creature is afflicted with that dangerous 
disease — the pip. Blow up the feathers, and you will find a 
tiny white bladder close on to, and impeding the vent of the 
bird. This may be softened, and ultimately cured by the 
application of butter and sugar to the part. It must be very 
fresh butter. The ordinary remedy is to pierce the hardened 
gland with a needle, or to cut it off altogether, but birds cured of 
the pip in this way usually die at moulting. 
If your bird looks lean and out of condition, if he is restless — 
especially of nights — and is continually pecking himself, look 
carefully about his body for vermin, and examine well his cage. 
You will probably find it infested with red mites. If so, at 
once remove the bird, and give him frequent baths of diluted 
tobacco -water — a quarter of an ounce of tobacco to three half- 
pints of water. See that he is quite free from mites before 
you return him to his cage, which of course must likewise be 
thoroughly cleansed. 
Consumption is a disease with which birds are commonly 
afflcted. It may be recognized by the bird’s inflating and dis- 
tending itself, the roughness of its plumage, and the wasting 
of its flesh. Bor this complaint, Bechstein advises a house- 
spider to be administered by way of a purge, and a rusty nail 
in their water for the strengthening of their stomachs ; their 
food at the same time being the most nutritious of the sorts 
that are good for them. The same authority avers that water- 
cresses is almost a certain cure for consumption. 
