CANARIES AND OTHER CAGE-BIRD FRIENDS^ 



By Alexander Wetmore 



Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution 



HUMAN pleasure in song, sprightly 

 movement, and color — these are the 

 basic reasons for the hundreds of 

 thousands of small cage birds that are found 

 in homes and aviaries throughout the world. 

 The canary, most universally loved of 

 these songsters, has been transported from 

 its place of origin in the Canary Islands to 

 every country in the world, and the vast 

 number now found in captivity must cer- 

 tainly exceed those living in the original 

 wild state, proof of the success of their 

 domestication. 



A MID-PACIFIC ISLE OF SONG 



Years ago canaries are said to have been 

 introduced by accident on the island of Elba 

 and to have established themselves there 

 until bird trappers caught, caged, and sold 

 them all. 



Now the only wild colony of canaries 

 that I know of on earth outside of their 

 native islands is found on one of the isles 

 of the ^Midway group of the Hawaiian chain. 

 ^Midway has recently become well known as 

 a stop on the route of the transpacific Clip- 

 per planes. t 



Landing at Midway from a naval mine 

 sweeper on an April afternoon in 1923, I 

 followed a tree-lined walk from a little 

 wharf to the buildings of the cable station. 



To my delight I found a pleasant grass- 

 grown plaza backed by a windbreak of 

 casuarina trees and ornamented with shrubs 

 and flowers. Here was a man-made oasis 

 of green built on an island of barren sand 

 with fertile earth brought out as ships' bal- 

 last from Honolulu. 



Earth, grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers— 

 even the weeds in the vegetable garden— 

 were introductions, and with them had come 

 other things. 



As I looked about I saw many small yel- 

 low birds flying here and there— canaries 

 living wild! 



But not until I heard their chorus of song 

 at dawn the following morning did I fully 

 appreciate that here was a true colony of 

 these birds living in a state of nature. 

 Dozens of them flew about in the shrubbery 

 and over the lawns, and their sweet voices 

 came from everv side. 



All are believed to be the offspring of one 

 or more pairs of yellow canaries released on 



the island by Mr. D. Morrison of the cable 

 company in 1909. x\s they moved about, 

 they appeared small and weak in compari- 

 son with the robust Laysan finches brought 

 here from Laysan Island, but they seemed 

 thoroughly established and had no enemies. 

 All that I saw were clear yellow in color. 



CANARIES TAKE SINGING LESSONS 



German canary fanciers have long been 

 noted for the attention that they give to the 

 production of beautiful songsters and have 

 developed the roller canary, famous for its 

 notes. 



The true roller canary is a bird of small 

 size that is predominantly green or mixed 

 in color, varying from this to clear yellow. 

 The song is a series of soft trills, so sweet 

 and pleasing in tone as to be beyond de- 

 scription. Outstanding singers are highly 

 prized and command good prices. 



Young male roller canaries are caged 

 separately as soon as they have completed 

 the first molt, and are kept in a quiet room 

 in subdued light. An adult male of perfect 

 song is kept with them and sings steadily. 

 With his constant example the young ones 

 practice their notes. 



BAD SINGERS "GET THE GONG" 



The birds are under close observation, 

 and should one develop harsh notes or un- 

 desirable calls, he is removed immediately 

 so that he may not be copied by his imita- 

 tive companions. Frequently a bird organ, 

 arranged to play soft rolling trills indefi- 

 nitelv, is used in this training. 



Under such conditions the young roll- 

 ers develop their notes, called technically 

 "tours," the different trills being character- 

 ized as bell rolls, water rolls, and so on, 

 until finally the finished songster is pro- 



* This is the eighteenth article, with paintings by 

 Major Allan Brooks, in the important N.^tional 

 Geographic Magazine series on birds. Previous 

 articles bv outstanding authorities on the bird 

 families of the United States and Canada are avail- 

 able in the National Geographic Society's two- 

 volume Book of Birds, together with other notable 

 articles, portraits of 950 birds in full color, 633 

 "bird biographies," and more than 230 photographs 

 and bird migration maps; $5 postpaid in United 

 States and Possessions, $5.50 elsewhere. 



t See "The Chronicle of a Scientific Expedition 

 to Little-Known Islands of Hawaii," by Alexander 

 Wetmore, National Geographic Magazine, July, 

 192S. 



IIS 



