The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-19
HOW TO TRAIN A CANARY.
He May BE Easily Taught Many Cum
ming Tricks.

he MAY be Easily Tau8ht Many Cum
ming Tricks.
meets 7-ofmsE topm GHeB
By genleness and patience, you may
teach a bird many things taat will inter-
est him and amuse you. The buster you
keep him, the happier he viii be; and
you viii find him always ready TO learn.
If you wish a canary that may be most
easily taught, select male bird not more
than six months old, and hang his cage
in the room where the most of your time
is spent Notice him often, attend TO his
wants at the same hour every day and
now and then place the cage on the table
beside you while you are sewing or read
ing.
To teach him to sit upon you finger, try
first TO gain his confidence, and having
talked with him for some time, Introduce
a finger between the bars, and quietly
continue reading After a time he will
go up and examine At; perhaps he may
even brstle up and fight Il. This is a
good sign. and shows chat he no longer
suffers from fear
Talk and chirrup in an encouraging
this TWO or three times a day. till ne be-
comes bold enough to light on your fin
ger and take the seed held on 1t. When
he no longer fears you or the finger, open
the door and introduce several fingers ana
finally your whole hand. As he percnes
on il, gently withdraw your hand, and
after a few attempts you Will get MN
outside of the cage
Be always quiet and gentle, and talS
with him conhdentially. Very soon, when
you open The door and hold up a hnSer
he viii come out and perch on IT, no mat
ter in what part of The room you may be.
He will now take hemp seed from your nm
gers and dips, If none OF TINS kiho ore
given at any other time.
When he has progressed thus far, ne
may be let out at a regular houf eacIl
day say at breakfast, and VIII aiora
much amusement for the family as ne
flies from one 20 another, singing on ms
ones head, taking a seed from that one
or daintily inspecting the various dishes
We have one that never touches any
thing on the table except bread and boilea
eggs. When the latter are broken, he
flies straight to the plate, and saucily
bristles up and scolds as though warning
us not to interfere. If the egg has been
buttered and sailed, we are Obliged 10
deny him the treat, as either would prove
fatal.
A pretty trick and one easily taught is
the ringing of a bell. To do this, suspend
little bell in one corner of the cage, ana
leave the bird without food till he Is nun
cry, then ring the bell by pulling the
string attached to it, and place some raw
orite food in the cup. If he Is an apt pu-
pill he win soon connect the sound of the
ben with the coveted dainty, and in a
short time he will ring whenever hungry.
/ know of one canary that is seldom in
his. cage, except at night. Then the cage
IS not closed, and with the first peep OF
dawn, Toots begins to chatter and sing,
and, flying into The next room, which is
his mistress sleeping apartment, he cir
cles about her head, whistdng and singing
at the very top of his voice, now and
then giving her a peck on her nose, mouth
or cheek, and keeps this up till she opens
her eyes and gives him a hemp seed.
Ills mistress gives painting lessons to a
number of young ladies; and once, when
they were copying some very large and
handsome panses, he busted himself dur
ing the dinner hour by nipping and tear
ing the petals of those most gaily colored.
Toots once paid a high compliment TO his
mistress ability a S an artist, by repeatedly
trying TO light on a spray of goidenrod
that she had painted. Tearing paper is one
of this birds favorite diversions, and Of
ten the carpet under the rack is 80 COW
cred with these fragments as TO remind
one of a snow storm.
Another canary of my acquaintance
whistles ''whip-poor- wiz in the most re-
aistic manner, and is so fine a whistler
and mimic that, when he and his master
give a concert, one cannot tell which Is
which.
Most canaries learn to sing before leav-
ing the parents, but to teach them TO
whistle and sing tunes, there must be con-
slant repetitions at regular intervals, keep
ing the bird as quiet as possible at other
times. A good whistler will soon teach an
initiative bird so that he will introduce
the most surprising variations into his
usual song.
1t is not every bird that can learn 10
sing q tune, but in Germany, where the
training of birds Is a regular business, it
IS done in this way: The young birds are
kept most of the time in the dark, and al
ways hear the tune they are to learn from
a bird kept for this purpose, or from bird
organ. In from three 10 six months he
viii be toierably perfect in his part, but
for a year he hears no music except that
one tune. 1t is seldom that a canary can
sing more than one tune, but the King OF
Bavaria owned one that could sing three
tunes correctly.