2o8 , BIRDS 



try. The village of St. Andreasburg has become famous as 

 the original home of the sweet-voiced Roller, but now 

 both this specialized bird and the common one are bred 

 throughout this region. 



The handling of the birds is a business of considerable 

 magnitude. Most of it is controlled by two or three New 

 York firms, the largest of which handles, under normal 

 conditions, about two hundred and fifty thousand canaries 

 yearly. At the close of the breeding season in Germany, 

 expert buyers go about among the peasants and secure 

 the birds, many being contracted for in advance. They are 

 concentrated at suitable points and shipped to New York, 

 in lots of thousands, in charge of experienced men, who 

 spend their entirie lives in this branch of the work. 



Each bird is placed in a small wooden cage, measuring 

 about five inches wide by six inches long and high. Seven 

 cages are strung on a narrow strip of wood, each unit of 

 seven being known as a " stick," or " row." The cages are 

 placed in large frames with wooden back and bottom, and 

 tightly wrapped in canvas during transshipment. 



When the canaries reach New York, the cages are placed 

 one above the other in great tiers, and the birds graded ac- 

 cording to song. They are then ready for shipment to 

 the thousands of retail dealers who sell them to their final 

 owners. 



General Care i 



The canary is a hardy bird, inured to captivity and able 

 to endure a great deal. If this were otherwise, it would 

 be less numerous, for no bird is regularly subjected to worse 

 mistreatment. But its ability to exist under the most ad- 

 verse conditions should not be imposed upon, for endurance 

 has its limits. The canary thrives in an open brass cage, 

 and is commonly so kept in this country. The box cage 



