58 CANARY-BIRD. 



a bird is a male or a female, is by taking 

 it in your hand, holding it gently, and then 

 blowing apart the feathers on the abdo- 

 men. In the male, the lower portion of 

 the body gradually tapers off toward the 

 tail, and is slender, neat and close feather- 

 ed; while the breast-bone is larger and 

 more pointed than in the female, in whom 

 that portion is rather the reverse, the dis- 

 tance from the breast-bone to the tail 

 greater, and the whole appearance of the 

 abdomen fuller and more rounded. With 

 a little practice, and a comparison of the 

 different sexes, the fancier will be enabled 

 to judge of a bird's gender at all seasons, 

 and will not fail, so certain is the system, 

 once in a hundred instances. This is a 

 new method, now for the first time pub- 

 lished. 



The older and more common plan of 

 discovering the sexes, is by the colours of 

 the birds. The male always being of a 

 richer and brighter hue under the throat, 

 and wearing a streak of brilliant yellow 



