34 CANARIES AND CAGE-BIRDS. 



vailiug idea that a trained bird loses his song because he is learning tricks is not so : 

 the loss of song can almost always be attributed to the rich food which is apt to 

 be given in large quantities as rewards. 



PIPING CANARIES. 



Canaries may be taught to pipe a tune in the same manner as a trained Bullfinch, 

 but the great trouble lies in the fact of his forgetting the air when brought into the 

 presence of natural singing Canaries. The Canary has a natural varied song which 

 the Bullfinch does not have : and, when trained to pipe music, he must be kept out of 

 the reach of Canary voices ; as his natural song is recalled, and the artificial notes 

 neglected. For this reason the difficulty in obtaining a well-trained Canary is great ; 

 and, when one is found, he must be given a room to himself, and out of the reach of 

 ihe vocal influence of any other Canary. When a Canary is well taught, the voice is 

 exceedingly flutelike and clear. The lessons are given in the same manner as to 

 the piping Bullfinch ; and it is necessary to be able to properly whistle the air, or to 

 play a bird-organ which has it, in order to keep the bird in perfect tune. As may 

 be imagined, it is exceedingly difficult to procure a piping Canary in a bird-shop, for 

 the constant din from members of his own class would utterly ruin his artificial 

 notes. These Canaries are always imported to order when one is desired. 



TALKING CANARIES. 



No doubt, to state there is such a class, provokes an incredulous smile : never- 

 theless, believe it or not, Canaries have been trained to talk. You may say you are 

 a great traveller, have had thousands of Canaries in your care, but never heard a 

 Canary speak, all of which may be true. You are not one of the favored few ; for 

 it may be safely said, that very few have ever heard one. 



When a talking-bird is mentioned, most persons naturally expect to hear or 

 read something about a green parrot, one of the smaller, insignificant parrots, 

 to which they might listen for seventeen months, could life last so long under 

 such circumstances, and never hear him utter an intelligible word, a bird with a 

 shriek, that, heard unexpectedly, would terrify the stoutest heart. There are many 

 species of birds that talk ; and, likely, as we become better acquainted with the 

 feathered tribe, many more kinds will be added to an already long list. A friend, 

 living in Eastern Massachusetts, has a Canary, a real tame bird, of her own raising, 

 which often used to perch on her work, fight the fingers that refused him caresses, 

 pull the thread from her needle, and finally alight in such a position that no more 

 stitches could be taken. This bad conduct elicited sharp remarks of assumed dis- 

 pleasure. "Peter! Peter! fly for your life!" But Peter, like Peter the Great, 

 would not understand what fly meant : he preferred to stay and fight. After several 

 days' repetition of this mimic contest, imagine the surprise caused by the bird 

 alighting in his usual battle-ground, and saying plainly, "Peter! Peter! Fly! 

 Fly ! " 



Many authentic cases of the above kind are on record. Many owners of pet 

 Canaries, who name their pets Dickie, are surprised, after repeating the name many 



