The household (of the Detroit free press)

Some birds bathe while mating and some do not. It is always best to put the bathing dish in the cage, and leave it to the birds' own judgment whether to bathe or not. Many birds are of a nervous and irritable disposition, never remaining in one position for a single instant, but are continually hopping to and fro against the wires of the cage, as if trying to get out, which is really the case ; and, by coming constantly in contact with the hard substance, they ruin their plumage. Such a bird should be hung low, or better still, placed on a table where he can be occasionally talked to and noticed ; then he will soon become accustomed to his home. When partially quieted bathe the bare parts with water, into which has been placed ten drops of the tincture of arnica ; after the soreness (if there has been any) disappears, use a little olive oil. FEEDING THE YOUNG. As soon as the young are hatched a small jar is placed beside the usual feeding trough, containing a quarter of a boiled egg minced very fine, white and yellow together, with a bit of white bread steeped in water and afterward pressed; another jar should contain rape seed which has been boiled, and then washed in fresh water, to remove all its acerbity. Young birds require soft food ; boil an egg hard and grate it with one cracker and thoroughly mix ; roll into balls about as large as an English walnut and put one in the cage. They are apt to feed better if they have it given say three times a day. When the young birds have perched aloft one or two nights they are old enough to be put in separate cages, but they still require soft food ; also put rape and canary seed in the cage. When it is necessary to bring up the young by hand, a bit of white bread, or some biscuit, should be pounded very fine, and this powder should be mixed with well-bruised rape seed. This composition serves, with a little yolk of egg and some water, to make a paste, which is given to the young birds on a quill cut like a spoon ; each nursling receives for a meal four beakfuls, well piled upon the quill, and these meals must not be fewer than ten or twelve a day. The young should remain warmly covered by the mother as long as they remain unfledged ; that is to say, generally for twelve days ; on the thirteenth day they begin to eat alone. In four weeks they may be placed in other cages of a sufficient size; but they must still for some weeks be fed with the above paste, conjointly with the food of fullgrown birds ; for the sudden privation of this nourishment often occasions death, especially when moulting. THE MOULTING SEASON. Most birds shed their feathers in the months of September and October, and, though it is perfectly natural for them to do so, still the operation is accompanied with a slight disease. They should be fed on soft paste and, as they are not well covered with feathers, great care should be taken to keep them in a comfortable, warm place, out of all draughts of air. With these precautions a bird will fully moult in from four to six weeks. Should a bird not shed his wing and tail feathers readily, it is well to pull them out, pulling, however, only one at a time.