The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-01-10
CARE OF CANARIES.
How the Song Birds Should Be Fed,
Sheltered and Doctored.

a Market street bird-fancier yesterday
as he stood with q reporter in a little
flock of Gagged feathered songsters.
Possibly 1000" replied the scrib-
bier. making a rash guess.
''There are over 1000" said the fam
cier, after making a quick calculation
on his note book. And how many
people are there in the city do you
suppose. :" he continued, s'who know
anything about taking care OF birds in
winter? How many of their owners
do you think" he proceeded without
waiting for a reply, know anything
about taking care of them at all in
ummer or in winter, who can feed
them, give them baths o associate
them? Do you know how to keep
your bird from getting the asthma,
the diptheria or the consumption
why do canaries have consulmp
tion?'' asked the reporter in surprise.
YES" said the fancier, ''they have
almost every disease that a human be-
ing has except toothache. They
catch consumption from each other
from human beings and from expos
ure. One bird in q cage that has tu-
berculosis can give the disease to all
of the others, just as one COW can
spread it through a whole herd"
HOW BIRDS CATCH CONSUMPTION.
But how can birds catch it from a
human being?n
Gust as they take it from each
other-through the medium of the
breath. The physicians determined
long ago that when two human be-
ings slept together, one could catch
consumption from the other. Cows
are infected in the same way. They
huddle together for company and
breathe each others breath, one draw
ing into its lungs the germs of the dis
ease that float from the lungs of
another. Recently six canary birds
died, one after the other, in one house.
l examined them and found that they
had all died of consumption. Their
little lungs were almost destroyed by
the disease. On enquiry ! found that
they had been the especial pets of a
little girl who was also dying from the
same disease. They had been accus-
toned to drinking from her tongue,
and they had taken the germs of con
sumption from her. l have known
poll-parrots and other birds to meet
their fate in a similar manner. Any
modern standard work on ornithology
will corroborate what l say"
"How do birds contract the asthma?"
From exposure to drafts. 1t is a
mistaken notion that is shared by a
majority of people who keep birds
that they must be kept in a warm
room. That notion is entirely erro-
neous. 1t is true that the home of the
--u- = p rry1 .,,0 nlf.trA ft,nv - 4hsa
but it is also true that there are sea-
sons of heat and cold in the Canary
Isles Just as there are here, and in
Germany also, where most of them
are bred. IL you keep a bird in
comes enervated, it refuses to sing and
pretty soon it dies. Keep the bird out
OF the draft, but keep it out of a very
hot apartment. An even temperature
of seventy in winter is Just right for
it, but it will live in a room where the
thermometer remains at sixry-five
I Fahrenheit. In summer out or doors
! IS the proper place for it, taking care
always, as l said before, to avoid
drafts. II the wind blow upon it it
will take cold and contract either
asthma or consumption"
HOW TO KEEL LICE OFF.
"How do you keep lice from a
birdg"
You can do that as easily as you
can talk, if you only know n of ma
lures little secrets. Lice leave a bird
| every night after shutdown and settle
in the cage In the daytime they
crawl back amongst the feathers
again. To capture them get a sprig
| of slippery elm, take the bark off OF
it, punch the pith out of it and make a
perch of it. Through the top of it bore
two or three smooth holes. PUTT in
the cage in such a position that the
bird will roost upon it. At night all
the lice, except the very young ones
will all leave the bird aud crawl into
| the holes of the stick and go to sleep
there. If you take the perch out and
tap one end OF it OF a stone they will
all fall out. Another and a less effect
i've method is to tie a white cloth over
the cage at night and place a cup of
water in the bottom of it. The lice
will be found floating on the water in
the morning.
"The metal cages that are in com
mon use are unhealthy for birds for
several reasons. The principal one
is that the birds twist and iniure
their necks between the wires. Clean
| illness should be observed above al
most everything else. The birds
should have a bath every day in tepid
water and their cages should be
scrubbed.
mot one person in a thousand
knows how to feed birds properly.
The practice of giving them sugar is
quite common and it Is about as per-
nicious as cigarettes for a small boy.
Red pepper would be a more sensible
diet and it would interfere far
less with the digestive ma
chinery of a songster. Fancy
seeds, too, are unwholesome. Give the
birds only the common mixed varie-
ties that are sold at all of the stores.
A little celery once in a while, some
cutie fish to aid digestion and sharpen
the birds bill, and some dandelion
leaves are about all it will need, unless
it be sick. II there is something the
matter with it's stomach a little salt
pork is the best medicine and will cure
the ailment in nine cases out Of ten.
Above all don't give a bird bread.
Bread is worse than sugar. Itforms a
paste in the birds intestines and lies
there like so much putty. And be
| sure, too, and give the bird fresh water
TO drink every day."-Neacark Eoen-
inn Ne2ce