DISEASES OF PIGEONS.-VERMIN. 
47 
Pigeons are great devourers of food, and will eat any kind of grain, 
such as wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans, vetches, tares, buckwheat, hemp- 
seed. Small beans, called pigeon’s beans, are the best general food for 
all pigeons, but this may be varied occasionally by mixing with it tares, 
gray peas, and buckwheat. The tares should, however, be very old and 
good, and the buckwheat should be sparingly given. ITempseed is very 
stimulating, and although pigeons aro very fond of it, it should be spar- 
i u gly given, except in very cold weather, when they may have an extra 
supply. 
Pigeons are very fond of lime and salt, and sometimes do a great deal of 
^mischief to houses, by pecking out the mortar from between the bricks. To 
prevent this, it is best to make them what is called a “cat,” which will be 
exceedingly grateful to them, as it will tend to keep them in good health. 
This is made in the following manner: 
Take sifted gravel, brickmaker’s earth, and the rubbish of an old wall, 
half a peck of each; add to these a pound and a half of cummin-seed, a 
quarter of a pound of saltpetre ; let these be mixed with as much natural 
animal brine as will make a stiff mass. Portions of this mixture may be 
put into strawberry pottles, or into old canvas bags, with holes in them, and 
hung about the grounds, where the birds can alight and peck at them; or 
some portions may be placed in flower-pots, and stationed in various situ¬ 
ations where the birds can get at them easily. 
DISEASES OF PIGEONS. 
The diseases of pigeons are many. The principal, however, are the 
megrims, the wet and dry roup, and the canker. The megrims is a kind 
of nervous madness, in which the bird seems to have lost all control over 
itself, and flutters about wildly, with its head turned towards its back. The 
wet roup is attended with a discharge from the beak and nostrils, and may 
be treated by giving the affected bird a few pepper-corns daily, and a hand¬ 
ful of green rue. The dry roup is a dry, husky cough, which may gener¬ 
ally be cured by a few cloves of garlic every day. The canker is mostly 
caused by wounds made by the cock birds when fighting with each other, 
and is generally cured by rubbing the part affected with burnt alum and 
honey. 
VERMIN. 
Pigeons are often sadly annoyed by vermin, such as tick, lice, etc.; when 
once they get ahead, the whole brood will soon perish. The birds must 
frequently be looked at, and every thing of the kind taken from them. If 
they should be increasing, the best way is to fumigate their feathers by 
puffing tobacco-smoke into them. To prevent vermin, the most scrupulous 
attention should be paid to cleanliness, both in the birds themselves, and in 
every part of their houses, nests, and places of resort. 
