1$8 THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
tion, in procuring food for their young, and in 
chaunting his sweetest, softest, and most amorous 
strain, to amuse her during the important business 
she has undertaken. 
The method of training the young birds to the 
imitation of instruments, or the whistling of tunes, 
is thus described by Dr. Bechstein : — " No sooner 
have the young canaries reached the thirteenth or 
fourteenth day than they begin to warble ; and as 
these pretty interesting birds are so docile as to 
neglect entirely their natural song, and to imitate the 
harmony of our instruments, it is necessary immedi- 
ately to separate from his companions, and from 
every other bird, the young one which is to be in- 
structed, by putting him aside, in a cage which is 
at first covered with a piece of linen, and afterwards 
with a darker cover. The air which is to be taught 
should be performed five or six times a day, espe- 
cially in the evening and morning, either by whist- 
ling, or on a flageolet, or bird organ. He will 
acquire it more or less readily in from two to six 
months, according to his abilities and memory. If 
his separation from the other birds be delayed be- 
yond the fourteenth day, he will retain some part of 
