102 



CANARY BIRDS. 



them owing to the want of emulation of other good singers. 

 In the second of these cases, one should beware of a 

 proceeding by which a good tribe may be irretrievably 

 spoiled, to wit : if it be attempted to breed select Hartz 

 canaries out of females belonging to a more common stock, 

 in order to invigorate them and to refresh their blood (a 

 proceeding which, unfortunately, is anything but rare nowa- 

 days). This external success will, it is true, be obtained, 

 but the young birds will, by no means, be as gifted as the 

 old cocks. In the same way young birds which, after being 

 placed into separate cages, will remain silent for weeks, or 

 even months, will always be, and remain, bunglers in song. 

 The best way for improving such birds will be to place 

 them, together with a teacher, into another room ; here they 

 should be hung up as far apart as possible, whereupon they 



will, in most cases, 

 forthwith begin to 

 sing. On the other 

 hand, such birds as 

 will sing in a pro- 

 longed and assidu- 

 ous manner, and 

 which, while sing- 

 ing, strongly innate 

 their head, sitting 

 quietly and opening 

 their beak as rarely 

 as possible, give promise, as is generally believed, of becoming 

 good singers ; for the deep gurgling notes, as well as the 

 sonorous " hollow " and " bow rolls," as well as the deep 

 chest tones, are generally performed with the beak closed, 

 while high and thin notes are uttered with the open beak. 

 In the middle, or at the end of November, sometimes even a 

 month earlier, the best among the young birds will sing 



SPECIAL ACOUSTIC CAGE. 



