Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-13

inflammation of the bowels. One of the things
to be done when the canary is suffering from
this trouble is to place basin of hot water,
| into which you have put pinch OF salt, In the
| cage. The bird eats his seed, and that makes
him want to drink. You have previously been
so kind to the little singer that his faith in
| your good intentions is sweet to behold. You
have never given him anything but nice. fresh
water, and he now drinks freely before he
| really knows the water is sailed.
| But he does not like it. and you can't get
him to go back to it that day. That you may
make birdy forget your treatment of him. put
the same vessel in there the next day, but with
fresh water in it. You will find that the pet
has memory; for he will hop around and
look at the vessel long time before he VEN
lures to taste it.
the bird is about choking he will venture to
taste the water. 1t is fresh! He is delighted
and drinks his fill. Poor little thing! you have
thus established yourself in his good graces
only to deceive him again the next day; that
is. If his bowels are still out of order. Decep-
| ton is your only resource; for you cannot adj
minister corporal punishment to a canary bird.
Salt is good for his little bowels and you must
put it in his drink again; to deceive him is the
| only way you have of saving his life.
When the bird is convalescent you may
make him a dainty dish after this fashion:
Soak some French bread in water until it is
soft: then squeeze out the water put in little
| codiver oil and some poppy seeds. Mix INTO
a paste. roll this into balls, and put them into
the cage.
The object of making the paste into smooth
balls is that you will thus be able to see at
once whether or not the bird picks at it. 1t
| it does not, take the seed away and he will eat
your CONNECTION. 1t is healing for the bowels,
and all birds like it, after they have learned
| what it is by starving them to sampling it.
But you must be sure to make your paste
| fresh every day; for it soon ferments, and in
that condition would be far more likely to kill
| the patient than to cure it.
Pedcuring the Canaries
YOU must also learn to pedcure your birds.
In confinement they have no way to wear off
| their toenails, consequently they must be cut.
l once owned bird that inflicted upon him
self curious injury because | had neglected
to cut his toenails.
One morning l found Tony in the bottom
of the cage, one wing stretched out as if broken.
The bird was great pet, not bit afraid OF
me. and took him out of the cage. Tony had
had an itching the under side of his arm,
so to speak He had tried to scratch where it
itched, and in SO doing had run his toenail
through the skin of the unC er side of his wing:
and, there he was, tied down by his own toe
nail.
The little fellow seemed to realize that my
intentions were honorable; for without any
undue fuss and struggle he let me crowd the
toenail back through the punctured cuticle
and battle and dress the wound. Tony was
q
but thenceforth l kept good watch of his feet
and the thing never happened again
1t is cruel not to cut birds nails; for it
cannot scratch about on the bottom of the
cage and cannot even hold itself on its perch
if the nails get too long. Take your bird in the
left hand. and with pair of sharp manicure
scissors cut his nails. You will notice little
red vein in the nail: do not cut into that
if you do, your bird will have sore feet for
number of days.
Many persons think that nature is the best
teacher and recommend leaving the birds to
their own instinct. That might do if the birds
had an open air life; but. shut up in cages
they are, little enough good to them is their
instinct.
Raising the Birds
TO breed canares is most interesting thing
to do. The most expensive of these birds is
the Belgian, the choicest specimens costing
from one hundred to five hundred dollars each.
The Belgian is highborn dame, and seldom
makes good mother; after she has laid
her valuable eggs you will do well to take them
away from her and put them under the short
bodied German canary. Do not have the
breeding cage too high or too low; just where
you can see into it without the trouble of
mounting a chair.
The young birds should come out in thirteen
days after the last egg is laid. Then have
your food ready. The best thing for the bird
1ings is mixture of zweibach, rolled fine. and