The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-01-20
OUR FEtFHERED FRIENDS.
som,thins Absut tl,s rraae. ia GArariss
and OOfer birds @esith sHnts4ss 20


Their Proper Food and Treatment.
A reporter of the New York Graphic
has interviewed leading bird importer
in that city, and from him, obtained the
following interesting informatiop con-
corning The feathsfea petssof Qes house-
hold: -
Twenty-eight years ago the taste for
singing BIRDS barely sexisted,y and in
their first ear-the- firm only managed
toAsell 1900 birds, all of which were
disposed of in this city. The trade has
grown largely since then, and last year
the sales Of the house amounted to 50, 00C
'canaries alone, which were sent to all
parts of the Union, and some. of them
went as far Goffsas South America The
canary is the staple of the business.
WHERE THE CANARIEs CONE FROM !.
These birds almost all come from the
Itartz Mountains, in Germany, and. the
country surrounding, where, though the
bird Is indigenous to the Canary Is,
lands, it has attained its greatest per
lection as a songster. In fact the
moderrcamayis The result of scarefd
breeding land is As. rnach4 superioratt
the original stock. as the Durham short
horn COW or the Berkshire pig is to the
ADAMS and Ewes of the bovine and por
enc species. The canary of the Canary
Islands is & sharp-billed,1 shrillsyoicet
little fellow very similar both in per
sonal appearance and in note to- olu
own yellow bird BY persistent re
gard to the advantages TO be gained
from artificial selection of the breed
ers and by musical training the
Hartz mountaineers have -deyel
oped the modern. canary, AND
created trade which helps themto ekt
out precarious existence. These peO
pie are mainly dependent upon theil
wages as miners, but the mines are sc
deep down in the earth that the mos
robust among them is unable to work
longeftEsn three or. focr hours out o.
the twenty-four. The balance of the
working day they devote to training
their birdssand making the wicker cages
I in (which they are transported abroad
The principal colors of the. scanaryare
dark and pale yellow, green, cinnamon,
mead color, and almost white, but al
though there are many popular fancies
1 to the contrary, there is no judging OF
the birds musical powers by the color
of his plulnage. The only advantage
presented by peculiar tint is the fact
that strawlcolored bird is generally
the hardest, as it is the most thickly
feathered EThe price of d canary rms
according 10 his singing powers, from
So to 81. The Reiche Brothers bring
batch of birds, over by every Bremen
steamer; the number imported at time
running from l 500 to $500. They had
1900 choice singers on the Deutschland,
(which, of course, were all lost. They
have regular contract with the COM
pany for certain amount of space, and
excepting the months of July and Au-
gust, when the birds are too young te
be handled, two employees leave Bre-
men and. New York weekly The birds
are brought over in crates, and are not
at all affected by the voyage, the aver
age of losses by death from the time
they leave the Hartz Mountains until
they are sold inthis city being but be-
tween six and seven per cent. d sss O.
KILLING WITH KINDNESS.
The average duration of a canary's
life is,ror ought to be, from fiYeto seven
years, but, unfortunately, after. his
transformation from an article of com
merce to an interesting and too much
beloved pet his chances of achieving a
ripe old seven years of age are very
poor indeed, Occasionally, vet very
seldom, neglect is the cause of his pre-
mature taking off, but as a rule it is due
to a mistaken kindness, combined with
an ignorance of what birds require
ments really are. The over-kindness,
as a rule, makes itself shown in the
providing the bird with table delicacies
Tins it happens that the little bird who
carols his way into his mistress's affec-
tons too often lays the foundation for
his own death. The lady is enchanted
and consequently grateful, and pretty
soon the birds diet, which should never
depart from canary and rape seed mix
ed, or canary seed "straight," is varied
with slice of pound cake, half a dozen
grapes, a lump Of sugar, and, blythe adj
vice of the groceryman or druggist who
has stock on hand which he wishes to
dispose iof, a generous allowance of
hemp seed, which of itself is more per-
niciOus than all the rest combined. The
canary being an unconscionably greedy
fellow takes kindly to this treatment,
Eand munches away all day long at cake
and grape and hemp seed, the only
thing left to trouble him being the ever
recurring hope that some day his mis-
tress viii see the propriety of removing
the insipid water from the glasses of his
cage, and for digestion's sake SUBSTITUTE
ing in their place little port and
sherry. The consequence of this glut-
tony is soon told The bird fattens-
mistress is delighted at his comeliness
he grows fatter her delight increases
heTwaxes cOrpulent-see adds to his
lgastronomic pleasures; he stops sing
ing-she wonders what is the matter,
puts some saffron shreds in his water,
and gives him some more cake; he is
found dead atthe bottom of the cage
mistress cries over him, buries himwith
her own hands, wonders what can have
been the matter with him, and goes
back to the bird store and begs thepro-
prietor to be ''sure and give her a
healthy bird this time. F" H Another cause
Of fatality among pet birds is leaving
them in draughts, which very soon in
duees pneumonia and death. OF the
twomethods of killing the birds, how
ever, the latter isT preferable as being
- r. Eg.a EgEa5g-rV
80 OTHER SINGING BIRDS.
Next to the, canaries the different Kind
effnches rank as popular songsters.
Amongst these the staples are the gold
finch, which sells at S2.50;' the linnet
and chaffineh, which sell at 81, and the
bullfnch, whose price, like that of a
prima donna, depends upon the result
which has rewarded the cultivation of
his voice. Anuncultured bullfnch sells
for So, bat one who has been in the
hands of am1uestro and can sing a Sc
lection from the operas or national
anthem is vastly more valuable, selling,
in fact, all tke, way from $40, to $50
The siscan is a member of the finch.
family which is very popular as a,pet
with Europeans, not on account of its
song, which is but monotone, but be-
cause of its. tdocility, which enables It
in a very, short time to learn trieks.of