BIRD BUYING AND IMPORTING. 



249 



In the late suinmor and early autumn the physical work connected with picking 

 is easy, as the weather is delightful and the travelling good ; but the amount of care 

 required in separating the males from females is much greater, for the young birds 

 have not " colored out " enough so the sexes can be easily distinguished. Later in 

 the season, when snow to the depth of four or six feet is on the ground, and bleak 

 winds howl down the mountain side, the picker suffers from frost-bites, and gets 

 worn out plunging on foot through deep drifts. Birds are scarce then, too, owing 



to the draft upon them in the early trips : 

 and this makes long tramps necessary. 

 The picker must be careful not to discard 

 males, as every bird counts : competition in 

 New York is sharp, and the demand large : 

 therefore he should pass none. It is then 

 he trudges into the outlying small districts, 

 sorts of branches of the main villages, 

 where the houses are scattered, some lying 

 an hour or two hours' walk apart. Start- 

 ing early in the morning with a woman 

 (women being used for the more laborious 

 work of carrying birds in this part of Ger- 

 many) having twelve rows of cages strapped 

 on her back, he proceeds, wallowing through 

 the banks of snow, buffeting the fierce winds 

 and piercing storm, to select for you a soft, 

 sweet, fluff} 7 songster. No matter what he 

 may be suffering, the birds are always his 

 first consideration ; they are carefully pro- 

 tected ; and, if necessary, he divests him- 

 self of his great travelling-coat, and wraps 

 it about the package as an additional pro- 

 tection, trusting to his vigorous constitution and an occasional run to keep up the 

 proper circulation of his blood. 



Many villages, notably St. Andreasberg, are situated three hours distant from 

 the railway station. St. Andreasberg lies three thousand feet above the sea level, 

 and is extremely cold. On a trip to this village the picker packs his birds carefully 

 in hay, then wraps the cases in double case-covers made from thick, strong linen, 

 and, outside of these, wraps thick woollen blankets. These are the costliest of all 

 Canaries, hence precautions are doubled. 



The birds are sent in Germany the same as baggage would be here ; and the flank 

 movements executed against the railway officials in getting goods aboard a fast ex- 

 press where they are not allowed would do credit to a man with a longer head 

 than a simple bird-picker is supposed to carry. 



His trip by rail from the breeding-place to his employers' bird-house occupies 

 eight or ten hours. On arrival, the birds are carefully taken from the railway sta- 

 tion, fed. cared for, and put in condition for their long ocean-journey, which may 

 commence within a day or two. 



A Picker's Helper. 



