The Washington herald., 1913-10-02
CANARY AND IT'S CARE.
How TO Make n Real Pet of Little
Gagged Bird.

Gagged Bird.
From the New York Times.
Surely nothing else in the world gives
] so much music and sunshine and ioy in
, payment for so little trouble as a canary.
Select your canary for his song. The
German sort sing the best Often an in
significant dark little bird will have a
song OF beauty and a big golden bird
will have only a monotonous triII.
Some OF the hybrid birds have an even
more interesting song than do the pure
canaries. The goldfnch canary has a de-
lightful song. and its manners, too, are
pleasing. 1t is marked with red and is
pretty.
The only essentials to canary health are
clean surroundings, seed and water. With
out these requisites the canary sickens
and dies.
Once a week his cage should be scaIded
and his water and seed dishes thoroughly
scalded and dried. His bath should be kept
clean. and occasionally all his belongings
should be summed.
To make your canary a real joy make
a pet Of him. Let him fly at liberty when
you clean his cage. If you have time, let
him fly every morning. While he is out
|
! him. Stay in the room with him.
| II by chance he falls. because his
wings are weak. set the top Of the cage
/ over him and leave him. He can then
| hop to a perch by himself. Later, when
he is tame. you can help him. Be gentle
| in your movements about his cage. He
will soon become used to you and in a
few weeks you can handle him. But IL
you frighten him to begin with you will
have trouble in tanning him.
So much for tanning him out of the cage.
The real training process begins in the
cage. Speak to him, chirp to him or
/ whistle to him always when you handle
his seed or water cup or his bath. Put
your finger into the cake when you give
him greens. Let him peck grains of sugar
or seeds from your hand. He will soon
get so fond of your companionship that
he will cry when you leave him and chirp
| in recognition as soon as you enter the
room.
One little bird, a wild enough thins
when it was bought. was tanned by these
simple methods so that within two months
| il would follow the members of the fam
! lily about a room, flying about them or
perching happily on their hands. II would
peck at their fingers whenever they put
them in the cage. and it would hop on
their hands when they opened the cage
door
Sometimes it would hop up their arms.
following a finger Of the other hand. to
the shoulder. 1t would jump from one
forefnger to the other. held a couple OF
inches above. and so climb the stairs"
The little birds crowning achievement
was discovered by accident. One member
OF the family went into the room where
| il was hung in the middle Of the night
and began to talk TO il. Promptly. walked
suddenly from a down sleep, the little
bird began to sing, and il sang away
in the dark until it was alone again.
There are some birds which will not
bathe. The new bird bath-the little glass
cages, that hook on the side Of the cage
over the open door-will tempt almost
any bird. But If you have difficulty
either. with this sort OF bath or any
other. put a little lettuce leaf in il.
The bird will go into the water for the
lettuce-he should be hungry for it. 50
don't give him any for few days before
you try this method of CoaNing him
and once in he will doubtless like the
bath. It is the tub that frightens the
bird. They all like to battle