10 
CAGE-BIRDS. 
and if so, it implies that he has a surfeit. If he appears lean and out 
of condition, look narrowly for vermin about his body, and examine his 
cage well for little red mites, which attack him at night when he goes 
to roost, and frequently are the cause of his plucking himself so much by 
day. 
Cleanliness, good seed, and fresh water, frequently renewed, are all 
uiat are required for a bird in good health. Green food is to be con¬ 
sidered a luxury and not a necessary, except in the breeding season, but 
this applies chiefly to the seed-birds, such as the canary, etc. Many per¬ 
sons give birds loaf-sugar, but this is a very great error, and we recommend 
in its place, a small piece of bay-salt, or cuttle-bone, and now and then a 
drop or two of spirits of nitre in their water. The best green food is chick- 
weed and lettuce. Surfeit is occasioned by improper diet or by cold, and 
particularly by bad water. There are two symptoms of this disorder, 
exhibited as arising either from cold or over-feeding. In the first case, if, 
when blowing up the feathers of the belly, it appears swelled, transparent, 
and full of little red veins, together with the bowels sinking down to its 
extreme parts, it may be said that the bird is in a bad state. In this state 
the bowels should be attended to; generally speaking, when they are not 
loose, as much magnesia as will lie upon a dime may be put into the bird’s 
water every morning, until the bird is better, or, if it should be very bad 
indeed, a single drop of castor-oil for small birds, and two or three drops 
for large birds, may be poured down their throat by a quill. The food at 
the same time may be bread and milk. If the surfeit arises from cold, put 
a little saffron and a few drops of port-wine in his water, and let him have 
to eat a little hempseed (bruised for small birds), and a little dried and pow¬ 
dered sponge-cake, and be always careful that there is gravel at the bottom 
of the cage, for this is necessary for all birds, as they swallow particles of 
it which assist their digestion. 
The husk is another malady of cage-birds, produced by cold; it is similar 
to a cough among ourselves, and when once caught is seldom cured, con¬ 
stantly troubling them. The only cure is keeping them warm, and giving 
them the food recommended when they have any other cold, as that of the 
surfeit cold just mentioned. 
Excessive perspiration is another disease which attacks birds, particularly 
hen birds, which are sitting upon their eggs. Weakness is the principal 
cause, and to cure it, it must have nourishing food, such as egg and bread, 
and induced to take exercise; and the bird may be washed every morning 
in salt and water, applied at a heat about equal to that of milk; the birds 
must not have it applied cold, lest it should chill them. 
The next disease is called the pip. This is known by a little bladder of 
whitish matter which forms near the vent of the bird, and may be seen 
easily if the feathers are blown up. To cure it, prick the bladder with a 
fine needle, and put a drop of salad oil to the place. 
Dysentery and diarrhoea are very common among cage-birds, and should 
