Our  Canaries 
7 
teaching  of  Kabir,  wherein  it  is  styled  Garur  Bodh— "  Wisdom  of  the  Eagle." 
The  Eagle  is  believed  to  be  the  vehicle  of  Ram  Chandra,  who,  like  all  others 
with  whom  Kabir  conversed,  accepted  the  truth  of  his  message,  and  was 
accepted  as  a  Chela. 
IN    ANCIENT  TIMES. 
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But  apart  from  these  inferences,  leading  to  the  belief  that  bird-keeping  was 
a  hobby  of  the  early  ages,  the  methods  and  purposes  for  which  they  were  kept, 
save  in  the  case  of  birds  of  prey  kept  for  sport  and  hunting,  are  shrouded  in 
mystery,  and  reliable  records  are  almost  entirely  absent  until  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  when  Gesner,  closely  followed  by  Aldrovandus  and  Francis 
Willughby,  although  the  work  of  the  latter  was  not  published  for  many  years 
afterwards,  all  make  some  mention  of  the  canary  as  a  domestic  pet  bird  kept 
for  the  sake  of  its  song  by  Nobles  and  rich  people. 
A  still  earlier  record  exists  of  its  introduction  into  Europe  by  one  John 
Bithincourt,  apparently  a  Spanish  Admiral  or  Navigator,  who  is  said  to  have 
brought  the  first  canaries  to  Cadiz,  a  Spanish  sea-port,  in  the  year  1405.  As 
Bithincourt  is  said  to  have  taken  possession  of  Lancirota,  the  largest  of  the 
group  of  Canary  Islands,  with  his  fleet  a  few  years  prior  to  this  time,  the 
inference  would  appear  to  be  that  the  birds  were  brought  into  Spain  from  this 
group  of  Islands.  The  Spaniards,  it  is  said,  quickly  discovered  the  good 
qualities  and  adaptability  of  the  bird  for  domesticity,  and  found  it  nested  and 
reared  its  young  readily  in  captivity.  Thenceforth  the  breeding  of  the  birds 
became  a  lucrative  pastime,  and  ere  long  a  market  for  the  birds  was  found 
beyond  the  shores  of  the  Peninsula.  But  for  a  long  time  the  Spaniards  are 
said  to  have  monopolised  the  market  by  refusing  to  export  any  but  male  birds, 
so  that  it  is  quite  a  century  later  before  we  find  the  bird  established  in  southern 
France,  and  thence  it  is  traced  along  the  Mediterranean  coast  to  Northern 
Italy. 
EARLY  CONTINENTAL  RECORDS. 
From  Italy  the  bird  spread  to  Switzerland,  and  became  established  among 
the  Tyrolese  peasantry  who  bred  it  largely  for  song,  and  exported  great  numbers 
to  all  parts  of  Europe.  Spreading  in  all  directions  as  a  very  desirable  pet, 
and  highly  valued  for  its  domesticity,  and  unique  powers  of  song,  its  cultivation 
and  education  was  early  taken  in  hand  by  the  people  of  the  Hartz  Mountains 
in  Germany  and  Nuremberg.  The  latter  place  was  apparently  the  first  wherein 
the  systematic  breeding  and  rearing  of  the  birds  on  an  extensive  scale  was 
carried  out.  Here,  as  early  as  the  year  1645,  we  find  definite  records  con- 
cerning the  trade,  and  that  men  following  the  avocations  of  shoemakers, 
haberdashers,  tailors,  and  various  other  business  pursuits,  were  the  class  who 
added  this  lucrative  hobby  to  their  means  of  income. 
