News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-03-28
TRAINING A CANARY.
How Bird May be Taught to Perch
Upon His Masters Nose.

The method I have followed in the
earlier training of canaries, says writer
i'll the New York Sun, is not original
with me. am indebted therefor to a
Catholic priest, whose entire success
therein encouraged me to make some
efforts on the same lines.
There are two important prellmlnal1es
III the process: First, you must have no
one else in the vicinity of the bird cage
Or, better still, in the room; and,
second, a rare degree of patience is re-
qulslte. Of these two essentials, more
over, would place the greater stress on
the latter.
The small bunch of fluff and feathers
and warbling unceasing, whose dainty
tricks shall form the burden of my
sketch, called Cap. He was of a bright
yellow tint, but had black spot topping
eyes. This ebon speck, SO neatly placed,
suggested his name. When he first
came into my possession, Cap was bit
fracticus-for a bird. Here, then, is
the method by which [ tanned him:
At dozen intervals in the day [ ap-
preached the cage slowly, and, placing
one finger near the wires where the
perch rested, instantly ierked the finger
away. This action, which may seem
rather foolish, repeated several times
but always in gentle fashion, so as not
to brighten the bird, but only to excite
his curiosity. Well, it gradually dawn
ed on the tiny brain that I was afraid Of
having my finger pecked-the very i'm
preston my action was meant to convey.
The canary's shyness was becoming OBJ
liberated by the novel idea that L was
actually afraid of him Cap began
quite soon to act on this idea, and with
lesseniEo caution each few times. Nor
did fail to give him opportunities. By
slow degrees [ got closer to the wires
and intruded my finger at greater length
between them, withdrawing it directly
on the birds approach, and if he chanc
ed to overtake and peck it 1 simu-
lated much misery if not pain at the
mishap.
Well, it got so at last, simply by fol-
lowing the above rules, that, whether
Cap was eating OF bathing or picking his
feathers, he left off the task and flew to
the side of the cage the instant my
finger appeared, and later on, in fact, if
[ dared come within yard of his ter
ritoIy. His enjoyment of my supposed
fear of him was merged at last in gen
nine temper, and he would evince it by
eyes that had as much of the devil in
them as they could hold. At such TN
times he stood on one leg,
grasped the wires with the other claws,
and babe me particular defiance.
Cap was now tanned; so the aggravat-
ing measures employed in bringing
about this condition were gradually
dropped, and a ccaxing system, which
varies, of course, with bird-lovers, was
adopted to win confidence where 1 had
displaced fear. Once you
tame n bird it is advantageous to give
him the liberty of the room for a couple
of hours every day. He thus has the
chance to improve an acquaintance
made behind the bars. But tame
him first in the cage; this is my expert
ence.
And now let me recount some of
Caps cute accomplishments. 1 have
time and again had him alight ON my
shoulder or ON the top of my head while
l was writing, and he had a trick of
fiuttering around or below from these
points and posing with perfect sang
froid ON the bridge of my nose! This,
indeed, was his favorite coign, albeit
trifie awkward for me.
Sometimes placed his bathing dish
on the palm of my hand, which held out
invitingly, and Cap made not particle
Of bones about alighting on the dish rim
and after few preparations dousing
down in the water and making it fly
while he formed his additions. Having
finished, he would seek the top of my
head, shake himself thoroughly, and
then make the circuit of the room warb-
ling at the top of his voice. My door
often stood open while Cap was out of
his cage, and if i Mt the room his in
variable practice was to fly after me and
have lift down stairs on my head
OF shoulder; while often, when he heard
my step coming up, and had previously
crept out without his seeing me, he
would fly down to meet me. Occasion
ally, through inadvertence, the cage
door has been left open over night, and
Cap has awakened me i'll the morning
sitting demurely on the bridge of my
nose