Los Angeles daily herald. [volume] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1873-1876, 1874-03-04
The Canary Bird.

Canary birds form very curious
item, both of general commerce and
of local traffic in every large Ameri-
can city. These birds, though native
to the Canary isles, as their name
tells, are now raised in great numbers
in Europe, and especially in Germany,
where the original canary blood has
become intermingled with that of
many another race-the goldfinch, the
venturon, the aberdevine, and other
kinds unknown here-so that the
birds now known by the title of canary
differ considerably in size and color
from the original. By this means
there are some fifty varieties; the
highest-prized fancy birds we have
little to do with here, and in fact, the
least brilliant in coloring, those whose
yellow plumage is in considerable
measure tinged with green, most re-
sembling the true canary. Germany
is the source of this cOuntry's chief
supply, the peasants of the forest
regions breeding the birds, which are
collected by the agents of exporters,
put up in little square wooden cages,
and shipped, thousands together, in
charge of attendants who feed and
water them, to our shores, and with
rare il any exceptions, to New York
alone. They bear the voyage very
well, few deaths occurring, although
the season embraces the Winter
months, extending from November to
May, the present being the hight of
the season. From New York they are
transported all over the country in
paper packages, by express, dozen of
the little cages being spitted on
stick, wrapped in stout brown paper,
marked Give Birds" and the dainty
freight always comes safe to hand.
The prices are least in the Fall, some
early birds selling even as low as So or
So SO apiece by the dozen. The GUS
tomary price of warranted singer
varies from $4 to SIS, according to the
vocal abilities of the bird.
The seed of the canary grass, a plant
indigenous to the birds own ancestral
isle, but now grown in the fields Of
English Kent, in Italy, France and
Switzerland, is the canary's food, and
to this rape may be added. Hemp
seed should never be fed to the canary
if his voice or his life are valued. He
is perfect gourment, and give him
the oily, sweet hemp seed and the
healthy canary seed is scorned; he
gluts himself, and it does not take long
for him to fatten up so he can't sing,
and finally SO that he chokes his life
away. Fed temporarily on canary,
watered, and given chance to battle
regularly, with little cutie bone to
whet his sharp bill upon, he is as ethe-
real pet as one can have. His ways
are full of charming naivete, he is as
vain as a pretty girl, and will prink
himself before a mirror in as exquisite
standardization as ever Narcissus felt,
or Eve when she gaZed in the mirror
ing waters of Paradise. He--we may
say che" you know, because the male
canary is the brightest and prettiest,
and exclusive pOssessOr of singing
voice-he may be made a very init
mate and tame companion; and those
who confine their acquaintance with
their canary to his cage habits, as too
many do, do not get half the possible
delight out of him.
The canary has been educated to
perform great variety of tricks in
shows, for he is extremely intelligent.
One of the most cunning little fellows
Of his race was a familiar inmate of
Haynes House in New York, last
Summer, and used to have the freedom
of the house, flying about the corri-
doris, up the stairs, and delighting par
ticularly to leave his home in the office
for round of calls on his cousins in
their cages at the windows in the
court of the hotel. It was extremely
amusing to see him visit great green
parrot, and twitter and demonstrate
around the clumsy bird to the latter's
evident disgruntled, establishment, for
he would sputter and groan most un-
amiably. Alas! the smart little fellow
scared out one day on wider flight
than he had tried, and whether some
hungry cat made a meal of him or
what else was unknown-he never
came back, at all events. You can
train your canary bird to perch on
yeur shoulder while you write, to take
tltbits. from your lips-and it's really
pretty sight if you are one of those
cherry-lipped damsels the poets are
always talking of. But wherever are
We rambling to f? Is this nineteenth
century of business q time to talk
about such airy trifies as canaries and