INTRODUCTION. 
indeed, the loss of their feathers prevents their taking long 
flights, and the reproduction of them occasions a loss of flesh 
which must be repaired. An abundance of food is therefore 
necessary, and, following this rule, during moulting, some 
additional food must be given to house birds, appropriate to 
the different species—millet or Canary seed, a little hemp seed, 
white bread soaked in water, and lettuce, or endive, to those 
which feed on seeds; with a few more worms and ants’ 
eggs to those that eat insects; all should have bread soaked in 
boiled milk, warmth, and baths. Nothing has succeeded better 
than this regimen. 
Vertigo, or Giddiness.— This, without being properly a dis¬ 
ease, is rather qommon, and is occasioned by the trick which 
the birds of the first class have, of turning their head and neck 
so far round that they fall off their perch. They may be 
easily cured of this trick by throwing a covering over the top 
of the cage, which prevents their seeing anything above them, 
for it is with looking up that this giddiness comes on. 
Pairing Fever.— A disease which may be called the “ pairing 
fever” must not be forgotten here. House birds are usually 
attacked with it in the spring, or at the time when the inclina¬ 
tion to pair is greatest. They cease to sing, become sorrowful 
and thin, ruffle their feathers, and die. This fever generally 
first seizes those which are confined in cages; it appears to 
arise from their mode of life, which is too uniform and wearying. 
They may be cured merely by placing them in the window, 
where they are soon so much refreshed that they forget their 
grief, their desire for liberty, or for pairing, and resume their 
liveliness and song. 
It has been observed that a a.mgle female in the room is 
sufficient to cause this disease to all the males of the same 
family, though of different species. Removing the female will 
cure them directly. The males and females, at this season, 
must be separated, so that they cannot see nor hear one another. 
This, perhaps, is the reason that a male, when put in the 
window, is soon cured. 
II Parasitic Vermin.— If birds are sometimes restless, especially , 
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