HIS MUSIC LESSON 79 



ours, and their instructors as painstaking as 

 the professors who teach our daughters. 



The canary is usually imitative and intelli- 

 gent, and a wonderful capacity for song dwells 

 within his tiny frame. I may say hers also, 

 for his pretty little mate can sing, though not 

 every one knows this. 



There are three distinct ways in which a 

 bird may receive a musical education. He 

 may be taught to sing our tunes, opera airs or 

 negro melodies, as is generally done with the 

 bullfinch ; or, secondly, he may be instructed 

 in the notes of another bird, as a lark or a 

 robin ; or, thirdly, his capacity may be de- 

 veloped, his powers of voice cultivated, and 

 his song remain the canary song through 

 all. 



The learning time in a canary 's life is from 

 five or six months old to a year, and the owner 

 of one of these little fellows must make her 

 choice of methods and begin in time. In the 

 first place, she must see that her pupil is in 

 robust health and good spirits. To insure 

 that he shall have capacity, some persons rec- 

 ommend that he shall have peculiar training 

 from the nest, to keep the muscular body flex- 



