CANARIES 



Canaries can scarcely be called "Poul- 

 try," but all my life I have been a suc- 

 cessful raiser of them and I so dearly 

 love them that I want to give them a 

 chapter in my book to let others know 

 about the prettiest and dearest of "our 

 little feathered brothers of the air." 

 The wonder to me is that so few of 

 them are kept and loved in California. 

 In England, in France, in Germany, 

 and in most of the European countries, 

 canaries are a source of income as well 

 as of pleasure to the artisan or me- 

 chanic class. I have known personally 

 shoemakers, plumbers, harness makers, 

 carpenters, who were really expert ca- 

 nary breeders. I have myself patiently 

 turned a little bird organ for hours day 

 after day to reach the youngsters to 

 whistle a certain tune, and at one time 

 I took a number to the forest of Mont- 

 morency so that they could learn the 

 nightingale song from the wild night- 

 ingales of the forest. 



Canaries were brought to England 

 about three hundred and fifty years ago 

 from the Canary Islands. Since that 

 time they have been extensively bred as 

 household pets. During the three hun- 

 dred and fifty years of its domestication 

 the canary has been the subject of care- 

 ful artificial selection, the result being 

 the production of a bird differing wide- 

 ly in color of plumage and even in size 

 and in form from the original wild bird. 

 In England, as well as in other coun- 

 tries, canary breeding is a hobby. There 

 are hundreds of canary shows in Eng- 

 land, and thousands of the lovely little 

 pets are exhibited annually, but the cli- 

 max show is at the Crystal Palace every 

 February, when the champions from all 

 oyer the country meet, and the judges 

 have a hard time to select among so 

 many almost perfect specimens the best 

 canary in all England. The winner of 

 each class in that Crystal Palace show 

 means the choicest of ten to twenty 

 thousand from over all England. Scot- 

 land, Wales, and even Ireland. The en- 

 thusiasm in England over these beau- 

 tiful little peets is greater than in any 

 other country, and it is not surprising, 

 when one realizes that the expense of 

 feeding a canary is next to nothing, and 

 the care 6f them only a pleasure. 



The price of canaries in England va- 

 ries from one dollar to five hundred, 

 for it all depends upon the beauty and 

 the singing quality. In some places 



there are singing contests for some va- 

 rieties. For show and singing and for 

 general excellency the Norwich Canary 

 carries the palm. It is the favorite breed 

 in England. 



I have asked a canary expert breeder 

 and judge to tell us more about the dif- 

 ferent breeds of canaries that are popu- 

 lar in England and in Europe. 



The judge (John Burrows) was for a 

 number of years secretary of the Lei- 

 cestershire (England) Ornithological 

 Society and of the celebrated Leicester 

 Shows, and knows more about the Eng- 

 lish canaries and English wild and cage 

 birds than any one I have met in Cali- 

 fornia. His description of high-class 

 canaries will interest many. 



The largest canary is the Lancashire 

 "Coppy." This we place first because 

 it is the giant of the canary family, of- 

 ten measuring seven and a half to eight 

 inches long. As their name implies, 

 they are bred for their crests, "coppy" 

 being the old English for crest or cap. 

 A good exhibition bird should have a 

 drooping crest with a well-defined cen- 

 ter, the crest feathers entirely covering 

 the eyes and beaks. 



Yorkshires — These birds are some- 

 times called the "Aristocrats" of canary- 

 dom. They are very straight, long and 

 slim, with an erect carriage and feathers 

 like wax, lying tightly to their slim 

 bodies. 



Lizards — A bantam variety of the 

 canaries with beautiful spangled coats 

 and a clear (not spangled) cap, the yel- 

 lows are called the Gold Liazrds and 

 the Siliver Spangled have the tips of the 

 yellow feathers just slightly tipped with 

 white. They are both most charming 

 little, tiny birds. 



Borders — These are another of the 

 Wee Gems. They should be round in 

 shape and as tight in feather for exhibi- 

 tion as though carved from boxwood. 



Cinnamons — A beautiful variety of 

 the Norwich type is called Cinnamon. 

 They should be of sound cinnamon color 

 with dark penciling showing on their 

 coats. This is a truly grand variety. 



Scotch Fancy — The Scotch Fancy is 

 a great favorite in Scotland. They 

 should stand with the head over the 

 perch and the tail under, forming a 

 crescent like a new moon. 



Belgium — This variety should stand 

 on the perch with the tail in a perfectly 

 straight line with the back, head bent 



