The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27
SKYLARKS ARE In DEMAND.
THEY ARE BROUGHT FROM EUROPE
N FIND READY SALE

M "OCklnk GlFu-ouu FeHlH6rtu EetAs
He's got a good. broad cap. strong face. nice
full breast. I'll warrant him" said the dealer.
the creature whose points arc thus summed
up Is not q pony. nor a poodle. but an English
skylark. one of those veritable little 'scorners
OF the ground" whose direct ancestor long ago
excited Shelley's raptures. and hns since elic-
tied volumes OF eloquent though unpublished
protest from the schoolboys and girls who have
sat down on sunny afternoons to memorize
that lark's performance.
Philosophic little Broadcapl As his tiny
travelling cage is turned about on the dealers
thumb the better to show him to advantage, he
betrays smal interest in the proceedings. lIX-
periences too many and TOO startling have been
his portion since his entrance into the busi-
ness world. his capture. Incarceration. anil
journeys by land and sea, for him to falter now
at merely being looked at and sized up. Evnn
when taken out OF his pegged wooden cage and
turned heels uppermost that his claws may he
inspected tclaws are an important index TO n
skylark's health, he gives no sign. and when
the deal that means SO much to him Is finally
settled he submits without sound or lutter to
be clapped unconcernedly into n common
brown paper bag and have the bags mouth
edges grabbed together unceremoniously-for
all the world as though he were q measure OF
Cumdrops or an apple tart-and be danEled in-
differently in his new owners fingers while
that individual puffs at his pipe and looks over
the other living wares that the shop contains.
Where is he going?" you ask. solicitously.
as the black-browed purchaser. a man with a
nose nearly as big and ungainly as Cyrano's
and an air ominously Indifferent. walks of
with his queer burden.
To a RivinRton street restaurant" is the
answer; but he'll be we'll taken care Of. That
fellow. rough as he looks, understands birds
and loves them.-srHe can.keep a lark healthy
! ana IN Singing trim when Others 1850 them.
I've sod him a half dozen since | began i'm:
bird; / bring over. The people who go to his
place like the singers as well as he does. and
some evenings they have regular bird trades
In the next quarter Of an hour two other
skylarks are sold from the little shop. one car
boy who, says that his father is bedridden and
wants a lark for company, and the other going
on In state In his own trim wooden cage. held
carefully in the gentle grasp OF a thin but mus
cular, old man from BROOKLYN.
toner says aHSs NY vile vile and "S dayGirhter we're we're
hanging ont clothes and in some way they
the cats didn't get him. You ought to see my
birds nog g, he adds anipIatedly to the pird
and happy as you'd wish to see and the weaver
inches are very Industrious. I've missed my
lot had come | made time to get over.S
ar, The en thi Pis man aHe from G fs o%saIydeG Mea tSr a shabby
fully pays down $50 for his lark and gets
four ounces Of ant eggs and 100 meal worms
4 sell my larks principally to people who
rope" says the dealer. Some YEATS ago W. we
for breeding. They, ali died; The American
climate does not suit them. but they do very
srai Ii bS EaPftydity ana ans sell ffyf them es of r s9t Hqt Sf BY
nifty larks left Of the lot and i only got them in
crowded not only With lark buyers, but with
people interested in birds and Just now getting
Island. all out-of-town places the people come
who hay a tin time q to o get here o, any ~ week " p day:
too far away. to get here In the evenings. They
81 5ird gan asd y sS s1lf Ti Il t6 %1 bs DSr time as to the
tiers for singing and d fancy Dir birds h.i f. g whole
noted for its bird trainers and the mum er Of
He employs regular bird tenders to come over
with his singers on, the German liners. feed
posed. These men make three or four trips a
season In winter. In summer they work at a
on the ship has five packages or hampers OF
birds to care for. the small cages being thread
ed seven on 4 STICK IN a regular succession OF
weight. wooden cover, with stout. homemade
rope handles to hold by, and. although bulky.
Of such, proportions that one man may easily
carry the whole package OF seven or eight
dozen birds on his back In this primitive
ping stations in the bird provinces Of North
Germany. the hamper borne along the noun
supply recruited from the privately raised
stock OF the little peasant tradesmen whose
houses are passed on the route;
for sale" says the bird dealer. "The people
are all tradesmen. shoemakers. carpenters.
I rntnnra Int In nftUAl ma Hhnu la..NI
their attention to birds. The industry started
hundreds OF years ago; There were many
to the injurious gases That uervaded them. the
workmen we're unable, to stay in the mines
Inc, around, for another means Of employment
TO fill out the time and help out their income,
r thsy h hit q H}fg b Pl5d a r1 yshpI an one ln an6 will will
other 500. Then the factory owners. where
the The s shIe tb Srs m1 HS , Fssee wt the birds nisd in b 3%nf
tie girls u and - years old 1T them into
maze m1aFe the hne eqn shke ahe OF TS ST or Ro sie2 g a aT Ge add
between 10000 and 100000 canary birds
ter, and in addition are the grasmueckers-a
bird having q sweet note much loved by the
GsTm 36Fk and IN st demand rP iPnets, them tEa p here IN
, fhIngsr s,I whose 1 habit Sn,R and ID q fPrss on%s make make
S Ssym q Ha &%% j S and Eki Se GIy they H'g'f bein S'f take ea
tltTb III tIhut'
Not only is bird raising a great indus
try In my province. but the training of the
man with his, opera organ in my town will
train hundreds of opera singing canaries.
going over the airs with them day after day
and sitting out the moro promising pupils
from the dull or Indifferent. SO as to fix their
value p%rorerlyi Out in New jersey there Is a
organ, but 1t is the only one ever brought 10
New York that | am aware Of. 1t stands as nigh
as an old time clock. and the air Is forced
through the gipes by means Of weights simi-
lar to tho weights In a clocks works. Here
are my opera singers over here in these
cloth-coyered boxes with the curtains pulled
down. They sing best in tho dark. and II IL
wasn't for all these other birds you could hear
singers are always kept in n quiet place
away from the light. | sell them for s. 80.
good singers can be had for $3.50; that is on
epecial days. There are special sales for
birds as well as for overcoats and pajamas.
People who understand about bird notes
would rather have u low-toned, cultivated
singer than one with ear-pierclng, voice that
sings out loud and .unreseryed by, broad day
light. The opera. singers are regularly taught
the familiar airs in grand opera. aud the birds