River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1907-08-22
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QREN TO STOW ROWS CAGES.

size of box or of birds shipped. Shell
parrakeets are sent from Australia in
especially large boxes, sometimes as
many as 500 making the journey in
single box. The birds SO shipped are
of a peaceable disposition and may be
Gagged together without fear of their
iniuring one another; but some birds,
such as bullfinches, goldfinches and
male canaries, are quarrelsome, and
each bird has to be placed in sepa-
rate cage.
Canar1es are confined in small
wicker cages, seven of which are
strung on a stick, constituting what is
technically known as a row. When
shipped across the ocean these rows
are Grated and linen or burlap sack
specially made for the purpose is
placed about each crate. A crate usu-
ally contains SO rows. To paraphrase
the old riddle-every sack has 33 rows.
every row has seven cages, every cage
has one canary Cor sometimes two II
the occupants are the more peaceable
females). Often more than two dozen
crates are shipped in one consign-
ment. Each of these must be opened
every day of the voyage, every row re-
moved and food and water placed in
the cages. In this daily re-crating the
rows are rearranged SO that the bene-
fits of outside positions may be more
evenly distributed among the birds.
On arrival in port consignments of
birds (Which pay no duty) are entered
at the custom house under permit from
the department of agriculture, usually
secured in advance by the importer.
1t is the aim of the importer to sell
his stock as quickly as possible, to
diminish his losses by death and so
increase his profit. 1t is estimated
that the mortality en- route and in the
store among some of the more delicate
species of birds, such as African
finches, may reach IA per cent.
While retailers do more or less bus
mess during the entire year, three
we'll defined seasons are established.
In February canar.es begin to breed,
and for the first two or three months
of the year the trade in breeding
canaries, especially females, is brisk.
About the time it subsidies the first
shipments of young parrots arrive
from Cuba and Mexico. These at once
take the stage and hold it until the
middle of August, when it is no longer
possible to secure young birds. In
terest then turns chiefly to singing
canaries and the many other small
cage birds that are imported The
sale for these grows greater and
greater and reaches it's maximum by
Christmastide, after which 1t abruptly
declines. Many dealers probably make
more sales in December than during
all the rest of the year. In the Christ
mas season of 1905 one Philadelphia
department store sold 1000 canar,cs,
besides other cage birds.
During the year ending June 80,
1906, more than 200 species of cage
birds were imported into the United
States. These comprised canaries,
parrots (under which term we may
include parrakeets, cockatoos, macaws
and lories), European birds, Oriental
birds, African birds, Australian birds
and a few South American, Mexican
and Cuban birds.
HENRY OLDYS, ASSISTANT, BIO
LOGICAL SURVEY.
The most important part of our en-