The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-12-17
STOCK PLUMING IN l877.

here III New York-the starlings, linncts,
the riehtMgsles. skylarks, and number
of birds not singers whose habits end
appearal ce make them valued. The oulk
get my African birds by way Of Hanover
anu Alfred. tkey being taken there in
trade
"Not only is bird raising great indus
try in my province, but the training OF
the singing birds Is an art practiced
there. One 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
more promising pupils from the dull or
indifferent, so as to fix their value prop
erly. Out in New Jersey there Is Han
over man l know who has b1rd-tralnlns
organ but it Is. the only one ever brought
to New York that am aware of. IT
stands as high as am, old-ttme clock, and
the air is forced through the pipes by
means Of weights similar to theweights
in clocks works. Here are my opera
singers over here In three cIoth-covered
boxes with the curtains pulled down. They
sing best in the dark, and If it wasn't for
all these other birds you could hear their
sweet notes. In Germany the opera sing
ers are always kept In a quiet place away
from the light. I sell them for $4.oO.
sometimes for IS apiece, and the ordinary
good singers can be had for $1.5O; that ls
on special days. There are special sales
for birds 90 we'll a. for overcoats and
pajamas.
People who understand about bird
notes would rather have low-toned, cul-
tivated singer than one with ear-piercing
voice that sings out loud and unreserVed
by broad daylight. The opera singers are
regularly taught the familiar airs In
grand opera, and the birds are so thor
oughly in practice that their music be-
comes second nature to them. and they
seldom improvise. just as the hooking
bird initiates by nature such tunes as he
hears, the canary will sing any air he Is
!schooled in. keep the opera singers
away from the others because don't
want their repertory interferred with by
association with uncultivated singers.
There ie the same difference between the
singing of q trained bird and that OF
IAN unframed bird as in human voices OF
cultivated and uncultivated cal1bre.'
With the exception Of some thorough
bred Angora kittens and some Java mon
keys, the entire shelf room and counter
capacity of this store Is monoDoliZed by
lbiros. No single voice Is heard in genuine
|song-it is evening and the songsters are
thinking of supper and sleep-but there is
10 soft cheep, cheep and a twitter and stir
audible throughout the place, and my
riad Of eyes glance shyly from the double
tiers of little wooden cages. High above
all the others is row OF hooking birds
feasting with the other soft bills on meal
worms and seemingly quite proud of their
temporary elevation above the night
iingale. 600
III got these down by Baton Rouge
says t:.eir master as he takes down par
ticularly fine pair Of graycoats 1--WE
heard them sing at o'clock in the day
fiji to melt your heart. and at midnight, if
the moon was out, they were at 1t again
as fresh and full-voiced as if just begin
ming. They had hard-boiled eggs and
potato as diet. as long as they were south.
and throve on 1t: but up here it is more
convenient to feed them the prepared
food, because If the egg stands ever so lit
tie it sours I went south particularly to
study the birds there and stayed six
months one sprngtime.