Daily camera. [volume] (Boulder, Colo.) 1891-1928, 1899-06-02
SELECTING CANARIES.
Ths Best Singers Picksd Ous ~
0sn With Trained IarA
Law NaAbesv 0l the Blsa. sAa00oA
TO TIT Ceuatry froa 0ssAA0v
eASA Year - How TAW
ARo RAAAlAA

Whoever has tried to buy . canary
knows how hard it il To pick Q good
singer. There are. however. men in this
country VINO are not only able to dis
,inguish between the birds that sing
and those that do not, but who. guided
by their ear alone. can pick nd classify
canaries according to quality and range
OF voice, even when hundreds Of cana
ries are singing together.
In an Eas side establishment in New
York, where on an average 1000 cana
ries are kept the wear round, two of
these experts Sill daily in 'front.' Of huge
stack Of little willow cages, in which
are more than $50 birds some times.
With wonderful ease and most thor
oughly and expeditiously, did the ex-
perts conduct this competitive exam
nation. First they picked gu, the good
singers, and put distinctive mark on
the cage of each of them; then. with the
use of other marks, they parated the III
into distinct classes, according 10 the
quality and style of their song. The
price OF these good singers varies, many
not being worth more than three dol
lars each 1T wholesale. and a few, on
the other hand, selling Al high as ~
each
In most large bird stores there Is an
exercise room in which are hundreds of
loose canaries. After long confinement
the birds must have chance TO use
their wings. or. Is one Of the bird mr n
says: "Dese ls.,le birds must go ieetie
free. Und ." We isdt dem sh,ay in desc
leetle room sometimes Ave or ax
weeks
The item OF food. where many birds
are kept. is an important one. In the
East side establishment. COO bags, or
nearly 10000 pounds, of rape seed
alone are needed each year This repre-
scnts an expense of over 81 900 for one
kind OF food. No American rape seedis
used. because il is said TO be lacking in
oil.
Hartl mountain canaries are a spe-
cialty OF This establishment. and the
proprietor saws that nearA all the birds
are brough, TO Alf.ld, from little towns
and hanle;s scattered over the noun
tains. and thence shipped TO New York,
Few people have any idea Of the eN-
tent of the Importation OF canaries into
this country. and. perhaps. fewer still
are aware that nine-icnths OF the bust
ness is done through the port OF New
York. TIE thinning season begins in
July and continues until April. and il /,
f,iimat.d that during tic present sea.
ron about 21o 90 birds will be imported
Of whicif ll0 900 will he males and 70. tsa
females Practically all these birds will
come from Germany. although !, il true
that some thousands of pcciai breed.
Will come from ENGLAND and Holland,
The m-~' Sa;iKfactorl bird is the
har,> mountain canary They are
hardy, surprising the Americanbred
cInnrics in thi. respect. The natural
song OF the Hnrtx mountain cannr, i,
varied by the occasional notes OF The
nightingale or other trained singers
Some OF the best German breeders keey
nightingale. or = trained canary in
the room to which the small birds ar,
sent, and this improves the voice of the
Young bird, greatly.
An old German named Wolfschlaf
teaches canaries to sing by the use of .
machine Of his own invention. which
pumps air through series OF tubes sur
rounded by water. In this WAY uotei
are produced which are extremely lik'
,hos, Of the best canaries, He has beer
engaged in this business for years anc
has an established tradc. some of hiI
machine taught birds selling for a,
much a. 500. Most experts and birr
fancicrs, however. think that the nat
ural method il the only sure Way In
which canary can he taught.
Among the breeds OF canarics which
are imported are the Belgian, the Dutch
and several varieties of English birds
| including the Norwich, the Manchester
| COPY. III, London fancy, the gold ant
silver spaugied Lizard canary and thu
| Scotch faucy eSnarv. The Norwich
canary Is no; esi.>n sirelv imported, bu'
is u general fsvorite in England. +
has been bred in the city OF Norwich
| for more than hundred years. anc
| is remarkable for its brilliant plumaR'
of reddish yellow. 1t generally con
ccdsd the mos, beautiful Of all cAnaries
but its song is not as good as that OF th'
| Hnrtz mountain canary.
The Manchester copy In the eaant o
the family. 1, is notable both for ~
great si.c and the peculiar crest which
usually ndorns its head. No frst-ciaS
specimens OF this bird arc imported
England herself taking the pick OF al
the birds of this variety at priees rang
ing from $23 to $50.
The Belgian canaries constitute tn
Four Hundred OF these feathered song
stcrs. and not MANY Of them arc nunt
in this country. The full-hloods hav'
brilliant pumage, but none OF then
has the great variety OF tones possea'ss<
by the HArtz mountain bird-Oncin
| ,>n a Commercial Tribune,