Arizona republican., 1904-02-27
THE UP TO DATE BIRD
How Birds Learn to Sing Popular
 Songs.

The craze for change seems at last about to affect the very birds of the air. No longer is a restless public sat isfied with the sweet strans that na- ture provides as the voice of the feath- cred songster. The up to date bird must be able to warble bars from such melodies as "Hiawatha", "Bedelia" or other musical inanities that attain passing popularity. A bird educated thus can be sold for tentimes as much as one that merely trills its own song, so that dealers are striving to make their birds accompanied in sing ing according to the new idea of what q bird should be able to do. It is a slow process but it pays.
 One of the first men in the business to see the advantage of giving his birds q musical education lives in Philadel- phia. At his training establishment the education of a feathered songster may be watched from beginning to comple- ton.
 Bullfnches are chosen for the pupils. With an ordinary fife or flute, the teacher sits down beside the cages in which the birds are housed and plays the first bars of the tune that it is de- sired the birds should learn. It is usual for a girl to be employed at this work as she possesses more patience than man, and the work is better suited to her temperament. It may be hours before the bird will take the least mo-
 tice of the player. The girl must keep on playing until the little songsters attention is attracted. over and over the few bars of music are repeated with monotonous regularity. Some times it is necessary to play the same strain for days before the birds will show the slightest interest in the eff forts to make them up to date warblers.
 Sooner or later, however, they will awaken to the fact that some song foreign to their ears is being played near by. At first a gentle cooking of the head in the direction of the sound will betray the awakening. Thus en- rouraged. the teacher plays with ad- ded energy.
 The patience required for such work may be imagined when it is known that even after seeming to have taken interest in the flute players attempt to educate them the birds will frequently lapse into dull indifference and give no further sign for long time. There comes a moment at last when the bird seems really to shake off it's apathy and hop nearer to the sound of the
 flute as though prompted by quickened
 curiosity. Soon after that it will re-
 main still, it's senses seemingly con- centrated on the. song. Then it will
 begin to sing. It is time for the teach | CT to rest then, and closely watch the birds attempt to initiate the notes that | have become familiar by such patient repetition. The chances are that at 1 first the bird will sound two or three
 notes correctly and then stop quite at
 a loss for the rest. The teacher prompts
 the little songster by playing the bar through. The bird tries once more,
 and this time, perhaps warbles the bar 1 correctly. Then the teacher to fix that
 bar in it's mind, plays it over and over
 until the bird appears to have memor-
 ized it. Then another bar is played 1 always with the first bar preceding it | for experience has shown that if the
 bars are taught separately the bird will forget the first while learning the
 second.
 | It is a curious fact about teaching
 of the birds that they can never sing a
 bar of the song from the middle. The
 tune must be warbled straight through from beginning to end. If, while sing
 ing, the birds forgets note or two ir