by our neighbors. The shrill and 

 piercing note of some of this species 

 renders them somewhat objectionable 

 as house pets. The birds are happy in 

 the cage, require very little care, and if 

 properly attended to are said to be free 

 from diseases. Most of the Hartz 

 Mountain canaries are somewhat mot 

 tled with dark, greenish-brown, though 

 many of the birds are clearyellow, and 

 few have crests. In the canary-breed 

 ing section of Germany, almost every 

 family keeps a few cages of these birds, 

 or has a room devoted to their breed 

 ing. The German people are very fond 

 of birds and there are many of them in 

 the United States who have many cages 

 of rare specimens. 



Milwaukee supplies the United States 

 with the bulk of the Hartz Mountain 

 canaries, and there is no great crime in 

 the deception, for the Milwaukee bird 

 is really an improvement on the im 

 ported article, having just as fine a 

 voice and being much hardier. 



Experience has shown that the im 

 ported singer loses the power of trans 

 mitting his voice to the young after 

 passing through an American winter. 

 This is the case also, it is said, with 

 Tyrolean singers who come to this 

 country, their voices losing the pecu 

 liar yodling quality when they have 

 been here a year. The native canary 

 is hardier than the imported one, and, 

 with proper training, is every bit as 

 good a singer. 



Before they are mated the hen birds 

 are kept in separate cages in the music 

 room, carefully fed and made to listen 

 to the music of the singers and the ma 

 chine used in training their voices. In 

 this way the hen is enabled to trans 

 mit the best musical quality to her off 

 spring. The music-room is a large one, 

 with a south exposure, and is kept with 

 the same scrupulous neatness as the 

 breeding-room. In the corner of this 

 room is the bird organ, and with it the 

 little birds are given their vocal train 

 ing. 



When the machine is started the notes 

 emitted are wonderfully like the song 

 of the untutored canary. These notes 

 are known to bird-trainers by the term 

 pfeiffen. Gradually the whistle strikes 

 onto a different line. It is an improve 



ment over the pfeiffen, and is called 

 the klingel rolle. A higher step still is 

 called the klingel, and a still higher 

 step hohl klingel. Lastly comes what 

 is called hoi rotten, and a bird whose 

 voice has been developed up to that 

 point is worth $50 in the market any 

 day. 



In this country there are only three 

 importers of canaries. Each of these 

 firms employs "bird-pickers" who travel 

 over the mountains in Germany and 

 gather together a supply of birds which 

 are selected from the stocks of the 

 small breeders. 



There are several varieties of English 

 canaries. The Norwich is a general fa 

 vorite. It takes its name from the city 

 of Norwich, where for generations it 

 has been bred and cultivated. It has a 

 brilliant, deep, reddish-yellow plumage. 

 It is regarded as the most beautiful of 

 all the canaries. Its color is frequently 

 so dark that it is called the red canary. 

 This color is produced artificially by 

 feeding them during the moulting sea 

 son a large amount of cayenne pepper 

 mixed with hard boiled egg and cracker 

 crumbs. 



Canaries have many pretty ways and 

 can be taught many pretty tricks. One 

 that belonged to the writer had been 

 deprived of its feet. Its wing feathers 

 never grew out, hence it could not fly 

 or perch and was obliged to stump 

 about on the floor like an old veteran 

 on his crutch. But it was healthy and 

 vigorous, and so pugnacious that on 

 our return, after the day's absence, it 

 would fly at us, or try to, poor thing, 

 and peck our outstretched fingers, even 

 while taking offered hemp seed greed 

 ily. The bird watched and waited for 

 our coming and we became so much 

 attached to it that its death was a real 

 loss. 



The little birds can fill our hearts 

 As full as larger creatures' arts. 



The nest of the canary is a pretty, 

 neatly formed structure of any soft 

 material it can find. Five bluish eggs 

 are usually laid, and three or four 

 broods are raised between February 

 and September, though the female will 

 sometimes persist in building until 

 much later. 



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