



CANARY BIRDS. 63 



ing themselves, and at bedtime, when there 

 is always an amazing fuss ; though I doubt 

 whether playing to them then would do any 

 good." 



The earlier the birds are taken from the 

 nest, the freer their song will be from notes 

 that are not wanted. The German trainers 

 blow on the bird's feathers, and look cross 

 and scold it when it sings a wrong note, 

 rewarding with hempseed, or some such 

 dainty, when it performs successfully. It 

 takes several months to learn a tune per- 

 fectly. As a general rule, those tunes which 

 have a sort of running scale will be found 

 the easiest to learn. It is a fact, that the 

 song of birds is not, strictly speaking, natu- 

 ral, but acquired at the very earliest age, 

 from the notes of the parent singing near 

 the nest ; just as the child of an American 

 is taught by his parents, and would know 

 nothing of his father's native tongue if he 

 heard only the French language spoken. 

 The knowledge of this fact should be a great 



