The evening times., 1897-01-14
4 DEMAND FOR PET BIRDS
The German Canaries Excel ALI
Other Feathered SongsterS.
BULLFINCH VERY POPULAR
The Work OF Training Birds to Sing
Is Done Mostly by Men Confined
10 Their Homes, Such as Taiiors,
ShOeInakers, Weavers, &c.-Mr.
Holden's Parrot.

"The persons who bought birds for Christ
mas presents this season. said a large inn
porter OF pet birds to a Sun man the other
day, greatly outnumbered those in pre-
vious years. Many of the dealers were, in
fact, surprised by the number OF customers,
and in many cases the demand exceeded the
supply OF course, the steady decrease in
the cost of birds since they were first inn
ported has something TO do with this. Then,
too, New Workers are becoming more mu-
sical, think, and the growing demand FOR
pet birds may perhaps be partly attributed
to this People in all ages have been more
or less charmed by these sweet little nat
ural musicians, and now that person in
the most moderate circumstances can easily
afford one, there is no reason why thou
sands OF homes should not be frightened
by their presence"
Birds were not imported here toany great
extent before the last decade. Stores for
their sale were few, and were conducted
on very small scale. BY $50 dealers in
birds had woke up to the factthat there was
a demand here for good songsters, and they
began importing them in larger quantities.
A reduction in price has steadily followed.
and birds both songsters and tricksters,
have steadily increased in popularity, The
sales of canaries this season. as in all other
years. were larger than those OF any of the
other kind of birds, although as songster
the canary is surpassed by several Others.
Besides its color, which undoubtedly en-
hances it in the eyes of a great many, it is
easily tanned, and becomes in a short time
used to captivity, which is more than can
be said of some other birds. The island OF
Elba is said by many persons to be the
place from which this species Of bird first
came. From there canaries were trans
ported TO France and Germany, and from
the latter country most of the canaries now
found here come.
The German canarieS far excel all the
others in their vocal qualities. The best
OF them come from the HartZ Mountains.
In the little village OF st. AndreaSburg the
rearing OF canary birds is one of the chief
occupations of the Inhabitants. The St
AndreaSburg canary has become famous
the world over for the sweetness of its
song, and to obtain this quality a peculiar
practice is rCsorted to. An English night
ingale is confined in room for some time
with one OF the canaries, The canary
learns 10 initiate the tones of the nightin
gale. and loses the choppy notes which are
diSagreeable in so many birds. The best
of these singers is the Campanini canary.
1t is OF a st. AndreaSburg breed, but its
tones are more musical and sweeter in
their quality than the ordinary canarieS.
Many persons mate their canaries with
bullfincheS, goldfinches, linnets, and birds
OF somewhat the same size, and the result
is often most delightful songStcr. The
-
S1.75 up to 500; but a bird that will
satisfy the average requirements as re-
CARDS beauty and singing powers, can be
bought for less than $50.
A bird that is steadily growing in popu-
lauty. according to the importers, is the
bullfinch. This cannot be due in any way
to its singing powers, as il is not a natural
singer and cannot be compared to the
canary. Its value lies in its power of im-
tating almost any tune sung or whistled.
Like the canary, the greater number OF
these birds come from Germany. People
whose occupation Confines them to their
homes, such as tailors, weavers, and shoe
makers, often undertake the early training
of these birds The large importing houses
in New York send over to such persons a
list OF tie tunes they want the birds to
learn TO sing. Sometimes as many as five
tunes are taught TO n single bird, but in
most cases the number is not more than
three. Sometimes they are taught to pipe
their tunes, and to hear them render such
songs as How Can l Leave Tbee?" and
America is very captivating. They also
accompany their songs with little gestures,
nod Of the head or a twist of the body,
which would do credit to a finished opera
singer. The prices of the bullfinches range
about the same as those of canaries, any
where from $3.50 to 81 %; but till now they
have not been purchased very extensively.
Tie high price which it is necessary to pay
for a good bullfinch does not preclude a
lover Of these birds from indulgng his
taste. A proprietor of q bird store the
other day had a laborer come to him to pur-
chase one of them. The man said he had
beensavIng pennies for more than five years
in order to purchase one of these little
variety singers.
Besides the songster, trick birds are
brought here to some extent, but they can
not be called popular. OF these the troupial
is perhaps the best known. 1t comes from
South America. Besides being fairly good
singer, the troupial is one of the tamest
of all pet birds, and in a short time be-
comes thoroughly domesticated. 1t soon
learns to eat its food from the hand, and
delights in flying about its owners head
and testifying its appreciation OF kindness.
1t enjoys play as much as a child, and its
docility is beyond question.
The parrot still maint aims its place. 1t
is no sOngsteT, and does not dispute the
canary's claim upon peoples attention as a
vocalist, but in its elocutionary powers it
is far ahead of other birds. As far back
as the days of Rome under the emperors
parrots were treasured as q great luxury
and were kept in cages of ebony and other
costly materials. The intuitive powers of
some OF these birds is remarkable. George
H. Holden, who is one OF the leading au-
thOrities on pet birds in this city, and has
written several books on the subject, has
a parrot in which he takes especial pride