Il8 TAMING AND TRAINING. 



yellow feathers is the best singer, while others main- 

 tain that those with dark-green feathers are the best, 

 and yet others think that a mottled bird is the 

 best singer ; and many times it is hard to convince 

 people otherwise.. Upon inquiry, we find these ideas 

 usually based upon the fact, that a friend of theirs 

 once had a bird such and such a color, and it was 

 a very fine singer, and they have been repeatedly 

 told, that that colored bird was the best singer. To 

 those who labor under this delusion we will simply 

 state, that there are birds of every color that are in- 

 ferior singers, and also those of every color that are 

 very superior singers. The fact is, a bird's feath- 

 ers have no more to do with his song than a lady's 

 dress has to do with her voice. If a lady cannot 

 sing with a plain dress, I doubt very much whether 

 a moire trimmed with real lace would give her that 

 much-wished-for accomplishment. In selecting a 

 cage for a bird, always look first to his comfort, 

 never forgetting that he is our little caged prisoner, 

 and our first duty is to make his prison-life happy. 

 The canary and many other birds will live happily 

 in a cage of any size or shape ; while there are 

 many birds that must be confined in a flat-top cage ; 

 others again that must be kept in a cage the top of 

 which must be of wood. The bird-dealer is always 

 the best judge of the kind of cage best adapted to 

 a bird's requirements ; and, if you follow his advice, 

 you cannot go amiss. The improvements made in 

 cages for the comfort of its occupant during the 

 past three years have been very many ; and, in mak- 



