When the feet of birds are neglected, inflammation may be set up under the crust of dirt, with suppuration, and larger or smaller ulcers, which may lead to inflammation of the joints, the loss of some of the toes, or even of the whole foot. Treatment: If the inflamed foot be at once bathed in warm water, cooled with Goulard water (11), the sore places smeared with diluted glycerine, then thickly covered with the finest starch powder, and this treatment repeated every day, the cure will soon be complete. In obstinate cases lead ointment (10) should be used; or, if the wound be moist, ointment of carbonate of lead (12), but then the foot must be put in a little leather bag, and this firmly tied, because the ointment is poisonous for the bird. Indurations or callosities come from abscesses in the joints or from corns. Treatment: In the former the treatment should be as above; in both cases the wretched cause, namely, the thin, hard, or otherwise unsuitable perch, should be removed. The corn must be softened by rubbing with warm olive oil, then washed with warm water and soap, and carefully pared with a small knife, but one must guard against drawing blood. If a tough hard thread has got wound round the foot (but this rarely happens to parrots), and by cutting into it has caused inflammation and suppuration, after being softened and washed as above, it must be extracted with the point of a knife, and the foot will heal of itself, if smeared with glycerine ointment (25). Callosities, ulcers, and lameness are often caused by the pressure or rubbing of the parrot's chain; in all cases the ring must be taken away at once, and the parrot, if it may not be trusted to sit on the perch unfastened, must be put into a proper cage, when the foot will generally heal of its own accord; but in severe cases it needs to be treated as above. In many parrots, in consequence of internal diseases, yellow mattery lumps form on the legs, especially between the toes; these must be treated outwardly like other gatherings, but can usually only be removed by the cure of the disease which has produced them. Still more mischievous is a condition caused either by an abnormal propensity, or by outward irritation, which actuates the bird to gnaw the foot, and even to eat off whole toes. Here, also, no cure can be effected without the removal of the exciting cause. In such cases, tincture of aloes (2) and similar things have been tried without effect; the bird began to eat the other foot, then a wing, then the second, and, finally, other parts of the body.

Some benefit is derived in such cases by bathing the part in a strong warm solution of potash (70), and then sponging it with carbolic oil (41). A parrot sometimes tears out a claw by catching in the wires or in some split; then the wound must be washed and cooled with arnica water (7), dried with a soft towel, and brushed over with lead collodion (9). Scab in the Foot (calcareous bones or elephantiasis) rarely occurs in parrots, but I have seen it in an old cockatoo. The feet become covered by degrees with a rind or crust, which increases continually in bulk, prevents the parrot climbing, and disfigures the legs; it causes unbearable itching, and so worries the bird that it grows thin. It must be separated from other parrots, because the disease, which is caused by mites in the skin, is infectious. Treatment: The hard crust must be smeared with soft soap, and twenty-four hours after softened with warm water, and cleansed as much as possible with a hard brush from scab (but the feet must not be made to bleed) and then rubbed with balm of Peru (67), or carbolic acid ointment (42). In more severe cases the treatment must be repeated. Finally, the feet must be smeared with glycerine.

Diseases of the Plumage are caused by tiny parasites, which take up their abode in the skin or the feathers, or by a diseased internal condition. The first are of many kinds, and either produce an eruption (similar to the itch in man) or destroy the feathers themselves. Treatment: In order to make sure of their presence, microscopical examination is necessary, but, fortunately, they are easy to banish. Strong smelling stuffs, such as petroleum or spirituous oils, etc, are often used for yard fowls and for cage birds, without recollecting that they are just as disagreeable and hurtful to the bird as the vermin. I therefore recommend, in all cases, Peruvian balm (67), and, as a further, effectual, and harmless remedy, insect powder (31), with the greatest cleanliness and care of the plumage in general. If the bird gets some places on the body where the feathers decay, or it tears them out, and constantly scratches with the beak, so as even to make a sore, it is necessary at once to find out whether it is on account of bird mites (the so-called bird louse). These red parasites may be recognised with the naked eye. The affected spot should be brushed with tincture of insect powder (32), or smeared with diluted glycerine (24), over which should be puffed some insect powder (31). Next day it should be washed with soap, warm water, and a brush, and then rubbed thinly with olive oil. In severe cases the treatment must be repeated. When a parrot is badly attacked with mites, the cage should be scalded out with hot water, and, having been thoroughly cleansed and dusted out with insect powder, should be taken to another place. Feather mites, etc, which live in the feathers and injure them, are also banished by brushing the affected place with tincture of insect powder (32), or Peruvian balm (67), and, after being bathed with soap and water, smeared lightly with olive oil; for the rest, careful management of the plumage is necessary (see p. 48). If bald spots come, on which scales or scabs form, they, also, are probably due to some animal or vegetable microscopical parasite. No researches as regards these in parrots have as yet been made, and I have treated the affected bird in a similar way as for foot scab (p. 72) with good results.

Self Plucking is one of the worst diseases of the larger and, indeed, of the most valuable parrots. It makes a most dreadful impression to see a clever-speaking, almost humanly-intelligent, bird become in a short time quite naked, with the exception of the head, and plucking out every feather that sprouts from its bleeding body. It has long been known that this diseased inclination is founded on improper management. Whether the cause lies in microscopical parasites or in the want of movement, the impossibility of shaking the feathers thoroughly in the air, and, consequently, in irritation of the skin produced by the closing of the pores from down, or in the corruption of the juices of the body, and the irritation which proceeds therefrom, or, finally, as many wish to maintain, merely from bad habit, is by no means determined with certainty. We can only point out the unfortunate fact that self-plucking is not rare, and that, to the present time, no certain mode of cure has been discovered. Preventative Measures : A constant supply of wood to gnaw, also lime and sand; avoid all tit-bits and unnatural food in general. On the other hand, suitable food and careful treatment of the plumage (see p. 48). The owner should also occupy and amuse himself with the parrot as much as possible. Treatment: Sprinkle with eau de Cologne or diluted glycerine (24), or some similar liquid, through a vaporiser; smear the places with tincture of aloes (2), infusion of tobacco (81), or walnut leaves (85), or other bitter or unpleasant fluids; brush with tincture of insect powder (32); puff well through the plumage several times a day by means of a hand bellows; a daily douche bath (80), with cool water, in which spirit, French brandy, rum, or eau de Cologne has been mixed. In Rotterdam tin collars were put on some parrots who had the habit of plucking themselves, but without success; nor, in fact, have any of these so-called remedies really worked a lasting cure. The best hope lies in the treatment of Mr. Dulitz, that of putting the parrot into totally fresh surroundings, supplying it with a roomy cage and dry sand to scrape, placing it near the fire in cold weather, douching it daily with lukewarm water, giving it only maize, oats, and little hemp, and, on the other hand, fruit, green food, and cuttlefish shell; and, while carrying on this management, in accordance with the laws of nature, busying oneself with the bird as much as possible. The Rev. Mr. Ottmann obtained the best results by allowing the infatuated parrot to starve, it being deprived of its food by degrees, till at last it only got a third part of the customary allowance; it thus became quite drooping, and left off the bad habit of mutilating itself.