16 CANARIES AND CAGE-BIRDS. 



Campanini birds are natural night-singers, owing to the darkness which they are 

 accustomed to when performing their duties as instructors. German Canaries differ 

 in the constancy of song. Some sing only at odd periods throughout the day ; while 

 others sing so constantly as to excite alarm for their safety, as they are apt to 

 overdo the matter ; and cases have been frequently cited where the bursting of the 

 internal organs has been occasioned by the vigor and strength which they put into 

 their musical performances. This can only be accounted for by the natural ambition 

 of the bird. Canaries bred from the same parents vary in temperament just as the 

 members of a family of the human race are apt to : one is lazy, and don't care to 

 sing ; while another is full of ambition, and not happy unless he is at it all the 

 time. Sometimes the laziness is occasioned by the richness of the food given. 

 Offer rich food and plenty of dainties, and the bird will repay you by becoming so 

 lazy and polite that he will not think of annoying you with the noise of his song. 

 He has convinced himself that bird-music is positively disagreeable to you. 



A little advice may be introduced here, which applies to the treatment of other 

 birds as well as Canaries. Find out as nearly as possible the exact amount of 

 seeds the bird eats daily : when this is determined, add a slight quantity over the 

 amount required, and feed this amount as nearly as possible daily. In case too 

 many seeds are given, he will be sure to select the richest, and leave the rest. 

 This constant eating of the richer seeds is apt to impair the song. When extras, 

 like hemp, are given, they should be fed separately. 



The German Canaries are certainly the choice birds when song is the quality 

 sought for ; and the numbers of the Harz-mountain birds make the prices, as a 

 natural consequence, low. They are equally as tough and hardy as any variety, and 

 as long lived. If the common care and rules for feeding are observed, there is no 

 danger of their losing their sweet songs. 



So strong is the desire of the German breeders to breed as many birds as pos- 

 sible for the market, that the breeding for numbers is forced by means of artificial 

 heat ; and the diseases to which the German Canary is subject are mostly those of 

 the throat and lungs, induced by changes to damper or colder climates. For this 

 reason, the old, threadbare advice, " Do not hang your bird in a draughty room, or 

 anywhere that a possible draught can reach him," must be repeated here, and care- 

 fully regarded if you would keep your bird in health and song Hang your bird 

 in a room which has an even temperature, which may be as low as 40, or as high as 

 75 ; the bird will become accustomed to either, and sing equally as well in one as in 

 the other : but sudden changes must be avoided. Another serious cause of com- 

 plaint is the rumpled, dumpish appearance of your German bird. After being pur- 

 chased, and brought home, he is transferred from his prison-like quarters to the 

 handsome, roomy brass cage which you have prepared for him. You are, no doubt, 

 surprised at the change which a day has wrought in him, and also surprised to see 

 that he does not seem inclined to eat, and lay it to homesickness, caused by the 

 absence from the large number of birds with which he has always associated. If 

 not looked to in two or three days, the newly made purchase will be ready for dis- 

 section, which will reveal the cause of his death to have resulted from starvation. 

 The starvation is easily explained. By examining the little wicker cage in which 

 the bird has been exported, and in which he was when bought, you will see that the 



