264 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by JosEPH M. 
WADE, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
av 
ff avcrens J OURNAL AND Es OULTRY (Gfxonanes, 
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JOSEPH M. WADE, Editor and Proprietor. 

Published Weekly at 39 North Ninth Street, Philadelphia. 
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SHERMAN & Co., PRINTERS, PHILADELPHIA. 

AMERICAN STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE. 
REDUCTION IN WHOLESALE PRICE. 
We call particular attention to the advertisement in this 
number of the Journal, of E. 8. Ralph, Secretary of the 
American Poultry Association, in which it will be noticed 
that the wholesale price of small lots has been greatly reduced. 
Every Fancier will want a copy.of the new Standard, whether 
they approve of it or not. 
2m. 

Tor Ruope Istanpd POULTRY AND COLUMBARIAN So- 
ciETY have opened rooms, as headquarters, in Rhodes’ 
Block, 207 Westminster Street, Providence, which they 
propose to have open at all times, to be supplied with all 
the poultry periodicals published ; and request breeders, and 
other societies to send circulars and other matter which 
might be useful in the rooms located as above. 

— > oo 
SEX OF EGGS. 
WitiiaAM J. PYLE says: ‘In regard to the egg mystery, 
I forgot to mention that when the air chamber is not vis- 
ible it indicates that the life principle is absent, and of course 
the egg will not hatch, which can be proven by breaking 
the shell, when you will observe that there is no impregna- 
tion, there being no tread attached to the fibre at the large 
end. By the above-mentioned method it may be ascer- 
tained which is the last egg from a non-sitter that will hatch. 
But with the other breéds one impregnation is sufficient for 
a sitting of eggs. When the hen begins to cluck, this is the 
time to begin to breed true to her kind by a judicious selec- 
tion of mate, so as to avoid ‘sports,’ unless you have fol- 
lowed the still better plan of selecting in the fall a yigorous 
cock to run with about thirty hens, so that when the hatch- 
ing season has arrived the hens are all impregnated, and the 
cock is no longer needed if you require the majority of the 
chicks to be pullets. Better results follow this plan than 
when more males are employed in proportion to the number 
of hens in the same pen.”’ 
Hird and Small Let Department. 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
THE CANARY BIRD. 
Tux Canary is now reared in almost every civilized coun- 
try. More than three hundred years ago a ship sailing 
from the Canary Islands, laden with merchandise and a 
few Canaries, was wrecked on the coast of Italy. The birds 
escaped to the timbered lands near the coast, where they 
bred freely, and would have become naturalized had not the 
sweetness and brilliancy of their notes attracted the natives, 
who were possessed of so strong a desire to obtain them that 
by continually hunting them the wild breed became extinct. 
After this circumstance the captured birds spread rapidly 
over all Europe. 
In a state of nature the Canary nests in shrubs on the 
banks of small streams, which are numerous in their native 
islands. 
The original color of the Canary was not like those of the 
present day, but of a brownish olive-green mixed with 
black and yellow. The present brilliant hues of plumage 
have been produced by cross-breeding with other birds. 
Fanciers, by careful management, have instituted rules 
by which the arrangement of coloring of the Canary can be 
bred of any shade between that of the parrot-green, orange, 
and lemon, but still the original color will appear occasion- 
ally, even when two lemon-colored birds are mated together. 
The Canary is now bred for this market principally in 
Germany, in the kingdom of Hanover, where the peasants 
make their chief means of subsistence by their breeding. 
Tourists are sure to visit the Hartz Mountains, the great 
bird-breeding mart of the world. While the United States 
receive their supply mostly from this locality, some are im- 
ported from France, Belgium, and Holland. 
The song of the Canary has also changed under this pro- 
cess of cross-breeding. One accustomed to listen to their 
original notes would scarcely recognize in the modern bird 
the song of their progenitor. 
The price paid by the importer varies, but is usually 
about one dollar each, according to the beauty of plumage 
and excellence of song. 
German peasants manufacture small wooden cages in 
large numbers from fir wood, which grows upon the moun- 
tain sides. Some are dome-shaped and some are square, 
and about eight inches long by four inches in height and 
width. Every bird has a separate cage, and every cage is 
made entirely of wood; pegs, instead of nails, are used to 
fasten them together. They are manufactured at the small 
price of two cents each. ; 
It is estimated that about fifty thousand Canaries are im- 
ported annually into America. During the passage they 
require careful attention daily in feeding and watering. 
The cages are arranged in divisions, so as to allow the 
keepers to pass between them to feed the birds and clean 
the cages. If cleanliness is neglected, sickness is engen- 
dered, and many birds will perish in consequence. The 
usual cargo for a single ship consists of about four thousand 
birds. 

VARIETIES. 
There are three varieties known in America, viz.: the 
German, French, and Belgian. The German are designated 
as the short and the Belgian as the long breed, while the 

