inspection of the singers which are 
destined to carry song and delight into 
so many homes. Most of them are 
trained birds and they whistle and 
sing to perfection, and all that their 
German attendant has to do is to feed 
and water them properly. If disease 
breaks out among them, he is supposed 
to know just what to do, and in most 
instances he does prove an expert bird 
doctor. 
In the mating and breeding season, 
however, young birds appear in the 
great aviary which must be taught to 
sing and whistle accurately. Most 
people imagine that all the perfection 
of song cage-birds is inherited, and 
they would be surprised to learn the 
amount of labor bestowed upon them 
in order to make their tunes accurate. 
The young birds that have the proper 
voices for great artists are trained in 
the most careful manner. In the 
Hartz Mountains, where Canary train- 
ing reaches its highest development, 
the throat and voice of each young 
Canary are tested, and those selected 
for the highest training are set apart 
by themselves. They are sent to a 
school of instruction that is unique in 
its methods. At the head of this 
school is probably a Canary of the St. 
Andreasberg type, which strikes the 
right note for all the youngsters to 
imitate. The young birds are taken 
into the room in their cages, with 
cloth draped over them to shut out the 
light until the proper time has come 
for singing. Then the light is ad- 
mitted and the teacher begins her 
warbling. The young birds, which 
have probably never yet attempted to 
pipe, leave off their feeding and listen 
to the marvelous outburst of pure song. 
They become uneasy and enraptured, 
and in a short time they try to imitate 
the song; but they make miserable 
failures for many days. Eventually 
some of them strike the right note, 
and at the end of the week the most 
promising ones are separated from the 
rest and placed in rooms with the best 
singers. In this way their voices are 
gradually cultivated, and new songs 
are taught them. 
There are several such schools for 
canaries in New York, but they are 
devoted entirely to the comparatively 
few Canaries raised for the trade in 
this country. Most of those imported 
have already been trained to sing 
accurately, although after their long 
sea voyage they need a little extra 
training to bring their voices to per- 
fection. The best trained Canaries are 
the St. Andreasberg Canaries, whose 
notes are considered the finest of any 
in existence. Originally these notes 
were obtained by placing a Nightin- 
gale in the breeding room of the young 
Canaries, and the natural, clear-toned 
voices quickly blended the song in 
with their natural notes. In time, by 
careful breeding and selection, the 
present type of the St. Andreasberg 
Canary was produced, but the pure, 
bracing air of the Hartz Mountains is 
considered necessary for the proper 
development of one of these superb 
singers. A true St. Andreasberg 
singer cannot, it is believed by bird 
trainers, be reared outside of the Hartz 
Mountains, and it is claimed that only 
about ten per cent of those raised in 
their native place ever pass the critical 
examination of the judges. They are 
sold according to the perfection of their 
song power, the best imported bring- 
ing as much as $25 to $50 apiece, and 
ordinary ones as little as $4 to $5. 
As a rule they are very small and in- 
significant looking birds, and not until 
they have opened their little throats 
to sing, does one comprehend their 
mission in life. 
79 
