TRAINING, FOOD, AND DISEASES. 
41 
the feathers. Dissolve a quarter of a pound of salt or half a pound of loaf 
sugar in a quart of spring water, and bathe the parts affected twice a day. 
Dry the sores thoroughly, and anoint them with Florence oil. Their diet 
should be as simple as possible. Rice-bread, scalded with milk, is the best 
food while the surfeit continues, and nothing else should be given, but 
keep the bird warm. 
As we have already observed, through a foolish indulgence in animal 
food, parrots pluck themselves quite bald in places, and make themselves 
look extremely ugly. The best thing to do is to bathe the bald parts with a 
strong pickle of salt and spring water, and to diet the bird strictly on bread 
and milk. Wo have heard that if the bird be well syringed with diluted 
ox-gall it will cure him of this disagreeable habit, but we have never had an 
opportunity of trying the remedy. 
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 be 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 good plan to cover the cage en¬ 
tirely with brown paper. Add saffron to the bird’s drinking-water, so that 
it is the color of pale sherry. A biscuit (without seeds) soaked in milk, in 
which a few chilly pods have been boiled, is a good thing to give occasionally. 
