Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-31

be devoted exclusively to canary breeding.
Nearly all classes of people breed canaries
the butcher, the baker and the candlesticA
maker; the farmer the blacksmith, the mil
Ter and all. The most extensive breeder
known to the Greenwich street importer
breeds only 40 or 500 a year, while many
breed only few each, and there must be
thousands and thousands of breeders.
The German canaries begin to reach this
country early in August and the shipments
continue all through the fall and winter.
the heaviest of them coming In November
and December, just In time for the birds to
De useful as holiday presents. Importation
stops IN March for the year. The demand
during the last twelyemonth has been I'M
precedented: the consignment of 500 re
ceIved in Greenwich street recently was
gone in less than week.
Teaching the Birds to Sing.
The birds reach this country at ages rang
ing from few months to a year. The
younger ones have not been taught to sing,
of course, and really are not wanted by the
American dealers as a rule, for teaching
them to sing is tedious operation. No i'm
porter likes to refuse a consignment of
young birds with the demand as great as
1t Is, however. for fear some other dealer
will get them.
AS practically every bird breeder In the
HartZ mountains has some other way of
making a living besides Matching, rearing
and selling canaries, and which are thus q
by-product, they are generally bred just
under the roofs, in the attics, and there kept
till they have learned to sing. Different
breeders adopt different methods of teaching
the birds
Many breeder keeps In his possession
as long as il lives one especially good sing
ing bird; the young birds hear his song and
Initiate II. Others prefer the canary organ,
| queer whistling instrument whose motive
power Is stream of water from pipe act
ing on a little water wheel This mechan-
i<.4I mo S1x.
ously when birds are being taught to sing
and the fact that 1t never gets tired or
falls asleep gives 1t one value not pos
sessed by the living bird.
Some breeders use both the living bird
and the canary organ. only running the
latter when the former refuses to sing.
Some Non-German Canaries
Canaries are bred In every country of
Europe, but mostly for domestic consurnp-
ton. English canaries are much larger
than the German birds one rich orange
colored Cayenne pepper-fed English canary
being twice or thrice the size of the aver
age little ST. Andreasberg roller" Not
only do English-bred canaries, for some
unexplained reason, tend to grow Iargar
than the German breed but and for an
equally little understood reason their song
though loud and vociferous enough, is moi
nearly so meiodious as the German birds
song.
famous English variety is the MAN
chester Topknot," q canary with a crest
or topknot The feather-f foot canary is an
othef variety. and those who fancy any of
these VIII pay a high price for a good
specimen-the range being from IS to $40
Tor ordinary birds of any of these types
up to 800 for unusual examples while the
German singers are worth much less-s2 10
700 being fair price for fairly good
Har1 mountain canary and $50 topnotch
price for hrst class st. Andreas roller.
me Beiglans produce canaries with what
Is called the Belgian shoulder" whose
necks are unduly developed as most bird
lovers think. but to the great admiration of
the belSianS. The Scotch Fancy canaries
develop graceful curve between the tin
or the tail and the top of the head that
mas almost the exact sweep of the, crescent,
There are other fancy varieties of canarias
none OF which is bred in great nnmhars
or valued much except by a few specialists
put al OF which are held at higher figures
by those who like them than the sineins
plrus generally are by anybody
Germans Great Canary Lowers
Nobody else loves the canary as the Ger
man does; nobody else rears or teaches tho
oird so skiilfuily and lovingly as he. and q
very large proportion of the canaries i'm
ported to this country are bought by Ger.
man Americans.
Both here and In the old world the CO..
mans form bird clubs and carry then, nr
with great enthusiasm, studying the neon.
liarities Of their favorites assiduouslv lis
sShiiS cii1icdiy 70 lneif songs and discuss
Ing them with all the seriousness that is
given to criticism of the opera
such clubs are TO be found in all cities
with large German population; in Chicago.
st. Louis and New York, for instance-and
| In many OF the smaller Pennsylvania towns
The Greenwich street dealer says the Kew
stone state is fairly speekled with them. the
number OF bird clubs within Its boundaries
being greater than in any other state Con-
tests between canary birds-or at least the
holding or comparative exhibitions of their
powers as sfngers-are not at all uncommon
wherever there are German canary enthn
siasts, and 1t Is from the members of such
clubs that the importers and the breeders
get fancy prices for fancy birds
Americans sometimes work up a daprea
of enthusiasm for canares, but their devo-
ton to the melodious birds never compares
with that shown by the Germans. either in
degree persistence or, If the truth must be
told, In intelligence. The Americans inter-
/ est in the canary. to put the case fatty, is
always faddish and heeting, while the Ger
= af1'a Ia la Ell