PURCHASE. 



51 



The purchase of Hartz-birds requires a detailed comment, 

 and we will therefore review it in all its aspects. 



When wholesale-dealers buy, they usually send their 

 agents to the towns of the Hartz, especially to St. 

 Andreasberg, Duderstadt, Worbis, Rossla, and to the adja- 

 cent hamlets, and dealers at second-hand are in the habit 

 of annually resorting there ; as a rule the birds arc 

 already sold by previous arrangement, and noted dealers 

 acquire their birds from the same more or less proficient 

 breeds. 



It is customary in the Hartz that the winged merchandise 

 is already bargained for, aud partly prepaid, in the spring 

 even before it exists, and is then fetched away towards 

 October or at the beginning of that month, for at 

 that time all young birds are being bought up, whether 

 they are of any use or not. Under such circumstances 

 the breed cannot but suffer ; the causes for this I shall 

 explain. 



Formerly the dealers used to come three times a year, 

 that is, first towards the middle of November (Michaelmas), 

 then a second time in December (Christmas), and finally 

 in February, for the selection and the fetching away of the 

 birds. The young cockerels are mostly "heard" (their 

 voices critically examined) on the spot, and this is the 

 reason why the dealers always put in an appearance person- 

 ally for the removal of the birds ; again, for other purchasers, 

 dealers, and amateurs, the business of "hearing" the birds 

 is done by persons who practise it as a means of liveli- 

 hood, and are called " out-stickers " (original Ausstecker). 

 These men undertake, at the same time, the " sorting " of 

 the young birds, i.e., the selection and distinction of them 

 according to their sex, colour, and value in general. (The 

 reader is requested to read the chapters " Hearing " and 

 " Recognition of the Sexes.") From an inspection of the 



