Signs of III Health - Influenza - Catarrh in the Air Tubes, and Inflammation of the Mouth, Larynx, and Throat - Inflammation of the Lungs - Windpipe Worm or Larynx Worm - Diphtheria and Croup - Inflammation of the Bronchial Tubes and Lungs - Tuberculosis - Digestive Disorder - Flatulency - Inflammation of the Stomach and Intestines - Poisoning - Purging - Costiveness - Typhus - Blood Poisoning - Dropsy - Intestinal Worms - Emaciation - Choking and Vomiting - Disease of the Vent Glands - Diseases of the Ovary - Diseases of the Liver and Spleen - Heart Diseases - Diseases of the Brain - Diseases of the Eyes - Gout, Rheumatism, and Lameness - Wounds - Burns - Fractures of the Bones - Abscesses - Diseases of the Beak - Diseases of the Feet - Diseases of the Plumage - Table of Medicines, with Directions.

I have already admitted that the diseases of birds is to me a difficult point to deal with. I am not skilled as a professional medical man to give scientific descriptions, and I am too conscientious to enter upon so important a subject in a superficial manner. Until of late years this department of the practical management of birds was strangely neglected, and only very recently has it been treated in a systematic and scientific manner, in the work of Dr. Zurn ("The Diseases of Household Birds," Weimar, 1882). While, therefore, in my former works, especially in the "Manual for Bird Fanciers," vol. i., in speaking of diseases, I entirely confined my statements to the results of my long experience, and both grounded the diagnosis and prescribed the treatment upon it, I will now extend my remarks by, as far as possible, introducing the scientific descriptions of Professor Zurn. I must, however, warn amateurs, keepers, and breeders, that the chief endeavour should be to guard against disease which it may not be possible to heal, or which can only be cured with great difficulty, and, with this view, I have given the preceding instructions upon the "Preservation of Health."

*At the conclusion of this chapter the reader will find a list of the prescribed remedies, with directions for preparing and administering the same. The numbers indicate the remedy which should be given in each case.

When a parrot bristles its feathers, particularly on the back of the head and the neck, yawns often, and shakes its head, or sticks it under the feathers, and shudders or trembles as if cold, the case is very ominous, and should warn the owner carefully to watch the bird. Neither the peculiar grinding of the beak which is often heard when the parrot is uncomfortable, or as the result of a bad habit, nor yet the bristling of the feathers on the neck, are generally signs of much importance. The chirping sound uttered now and then, when quiet in the evening, by a parrot which, to all appearance, is quite healthy, is, however, more serious, and is often followed by expectoration, coughing, snoring, heavy breathing with open beak, and the yet graver symptom of running from the beak and nostrils; even a continuous moisture of the latter requires immediate attention.

The principal indication of the state of health is in the condition of the excretions. In a thoroughly healthy parrot they consist of two parts, a thickish dark green and a thinnish white substance. Whenever both parts run into one another, or one predominates, when the excretion is all greenish-grey, slimy white, or watery, the bird is no longer quite healthy. Any severe internal disease of parrots is difficult to cure, because it is hard to make a proper diagnosis for each bird, and to find out which of the great organs has been attacked with the disorder, and what the evil effects may be which are produced on it. Professor Zurn deserves our thanks for the manner in which he has described a great many such diseases, stated their symptoms, and prescribed remedies; nevertheless, I am of opinion that it is difficult, indeed scarcely possible, even for an experienced bird fancier, to discover those signs of sickness in the living bird, and consequently not less difficult to subject it to the appropriate treatment. The last-named difficulty is unfortunately the greatest, for the disease and its remedy may be perfectly understood, and yet it may not be possible to use the latter, because the bird will not take it voluntarily, and, if force be employed, becomes so excited that greater danger arises. In severe internal disease, the compulsory administration of medicine should be avoided as much as possible; yet it is but seldom that a sick parrot is so docile as voluntarily to take what is unpleasant.

Influenza (Cold in Nose, Throat, and Mouth). - Symptoms : Sneezing; slimy yellow discharge from the nostrils, which become encrusted; rolling or shaking the head, discharge of slime. Treatment: To be kept dry and warm, and inhale tar vapour (84); smear inside with good grease; rub beak and throat externally with a solution of chlorate of kali (37) (Zurn); cleanse the nostrils and the beak with a feather dipped in salt water, and then moisten them with oil of almonds.

Catarrh in the Air Tubes (also Inflammation of the Mouth, Larynx, and Throat). - Symptoms: Hoarseness, coughing, rapid breathing, and rattling in the throat. Treatment: To administer something sweet, such as honey, sugar candy, or pure liquorice juice; a mixture of sal ammoniac (76), half, or a whole, teaspoonful several times daily; extract of dulcamara (19), a whole or half a teaspoonful twice daily; an inhalation of mild tar or pyroligneous vapour (30 and 84). Only lukewarm or tepid drinking water should be given, and the mouth, far back into the throat, and the nostrils, should be smeared with a solution of salicylic acid (73). The bird experiences relief if kept in a warm, moist atmosphere; several times daily lukewarm water should be sprinkled round it, and the room kept at a temperature of 72deg. to 85deg. Fahr.