Morning journal and courier., 1881-07-29
geW a5apen 9ailg ale[praiag Soarnal and Gonrier

from comparison with those We know, so much has fine breeding and intermixture with other birds done to improve them. In the natural state their colors are very plain, being an almost dull greenish-gr similar to the hnnet.
 In the sixteenth century the bird was first taken into the European markets for sale the demand having been caused, it is said, in rather a peculiar way. The sailors of 8 merchant ship from the Canary Islands to Leghorn had caught some birds on the islands whose song was particularly sweet, and were carrying them home, when the ves- sel was wrecked on the coast of Italy oppo
 site Elba. As the ship was going down some one of the crew liberated the birds, which of course were able to reach the land. There,
 the climate being favorable, they speedily became acclimated, and largely increased.
 Through that means Europeans learned the
 value of the canary as 8 song bird, and reg u1ar importations began.
 It was in Germany that they were received with the greatest favor, and the bird-raising peasantry immediately added them to their stock, finding them easy to breed, quick to | learn new songs as well as willing to mate with other species.
 To such a science has the breeding of the l canary been elevated, and such branch Of | industry has it become in the vicinity of the Hartz mountains, more particularly near An dreasberg, that societies have been formed having as sole aim the propagation and 1m- \ DfOV0m0QB l hibitions. with comparatively large prizes for fine specimens.
 | There nearly thirty varieties are recogniz- | ed under two divisions-the plain and the variegated. In this country, where the taste Y for birds is not fully developed, although
 rapid strides have been made in the past few years, but two kinds are generally known, which are the long breed, or French birds | and the short, or German raised bird. A 1 German male with French mate will, If properly paired, produced the most superior | young
 | The Germans sacrifice all fer song, while the French have bred them fer shape en- l tirely. This latter method has resulted in | birds from seven to seven and half inches in length, while an ordinary canary is only
 about five inches. The model of perfect long breed is thus described by noted fan
 cier: ''The head is small and round, while
 the neck is thin, forming almost curve in from the back The shoulders are very high, and the back from the elbow of the
 wing to the end of the tail, curves like a
 half-drawn bow. The tail feathers lie very
 close together, while the wings are set so
 snugly to the body as to overlap at the ends. ! The legs are exactly straight, with the feet close together and the feathers perfectly
 smooth on the body. For such bird 1000
 francs has been paid in Antwerp, and in this \ country $50 will purchase one of the second ! quality only while the young from perfect
 long and short pair readily command $25 each.
 | The German breeders, disregarding in g ' measure the shape of the bird, select short ! full bodies, not caring whether the feathers ! lie close or loose, and train the young bird: to sing by keeping them in the same room with nightingales, woodlands or sky-larks.
 It is possible to give the canary almost any
 song, for there is no bird so ready to initiate
 as he. As an illustration It requires abou | nine months of constant teaching to give , \ bullfinch one tune, while a canary can b | taught to sing twelve bars of almost an. song in five months, and even with no mor' practice than one hour each day. But if they are tractable birds, they mos \ surely are jealous ones, and he who divide his attention with other pets can never hop
 | to teach his canary. They will, when givel l | the liberty of a room, dash furiously at al . most any other pet which their master O
 mistress may fondle, and, while setting, tn
 female displays true feminine jealousy whe her mate even has the appearance of singh b to another.
 V The perfect German bird should not have
 according to the authority before quoted,
 succession of noisy bursts of song. q s must know how to descend regularly throug d all the tones of the octave in a silvery, SC n norous voice, having about twenty notes all the best of which are the bow trill, th bell note, flute note, water trill, nightingal
 and woodlark note."
 d The canary will mate with such birds Z the goldfnch, siskin, innet, citril- finch an
 | many of our own wild birds, the cross in tI second or third breeding being particular l. fine both in song and plgmage.
 l. The manner in which birds are procure }, | for this country is not the least interestln !. in necessarily brief sketch of such unive sally known pet. The Germans who rais @ birds for the market do not, might be SUI o posed, devote their entire time to the bus q ! ness they are shop keepers in 8 small wa,
 ! eobblers, tailors, or follow some such lndu
 try, raising from twenty to two hundred in l, season. It is in Hanover and Thuringia thu Il ! the extensive breeders reside, and in thos IF sections the bird importers of this count1
 \ have agents who know exactly the kind an 10 value of each mans birds from the way n which he is to breed also the time when u
 first broods may be expected. During tt q matching season these agents travel throug
 | these particular districts, examining and ba gaining for the young birds before they al l. two weeks old, since at such time the defec @ in shape or plumage may be more readi ga seen
 These young birds are held by the breed' 'A until such time as the American firms nee y new supplies, when they are forwarded 1 h this country in lots of from 1, ,5O0 to 2,O0t each lot being in charge of two men. It \ estimated that 10 per cent. of this numb I- fall victims to the change in climate. TT
 birds are brought each in 8 small woode
 cage, and while they are in the dealer charge, at least they get only such food a- is best suited to them-a mixture of ral 3, and canary seed, with lettuce of chickwet II in small quantities during the season. ,e The dealers season for importation is fro the middle of August until the middle IS ! May, and some idea of the development taste of the American people, so far as can 99' ries are concerned, may be gathered fro T. the fact that in 1850 about 1000 were in 7, | ported while in 1880 not less than 15O ,O( 7 were brought here.
 Ill Let those who own canaries make true pc Y of them; talk to them as to dog, and th' y will answer much moro understandingly ', fondle them as a kitten is fondled, witho lt too much stroking of the feathers, and th' '1 will be happiest when nestling on their mi d tress' shoulder; study them as if they we
 book and no volume can be found so fl
 of that which is instructive, entertaining ar
 amusing