37 



Those wliicli introduce into their melody some pas- 

 sages of the nightingale's song are the most esteemed 

 of all canaries; they are called Tyrolean canaries, 

 because they are considered natives of the Tyrol, 

 where they breed many of these birds. The second 

 are the English canaries, which imitate the song of 

 the woodlark. But in Thuringia the preference is 

 •generally given to those which, instead of a succession 

 of noisy bursts, know how, with a silvery sonorous 

 voice, to descend regularly through all the tones of 

 the octave, introducing from time to time the sound 

 of a trumpet. There are some males which, especially 

 in the pairing season, sing with so much strength and 

 ardour, that they burst the delicate vessels of the 

 lungs, and die suddenly. 



I shall conclude this chapter by pointing out 

 the best rules for obtaining and preserving good 

 singers. The most essential is to choose from among 

 the young that which promises a fine tone, and to 

 seclude it from all other birds, that it may learn and 

 remember nothing bad. The same precaution is 

 necessary during the first and second moulting ; for 

 being likely vto relearn (if I may say so) its song, it 

 would introduce into it with equal ease foreign parts. 

 It must be observed whether the bird likes to siug 

 alone, or in company with others, for there are some 

 wl^ich appear to have such whims, liking to hear only 



