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THE 
 
 Domestic 
 Song Bird 
 
 AN 
 
 AUTHENTIC MANUAL 
 
 REI^ATING KXCI.USIVEI.Y TO THE PROPER CaRE AND 
 
 Breeding of the Canary-Bird 
 
 By H. S. WATSON 
 
 CINCINNATI. OHIO 
 
 1902 
 
 , . . ,.,- 3 3 
 
 1 •> ^ J 3 3 3 i 
 
 > :i 3 ^ J 3 3 3 
 
 ^3 '3^3 ^ ^3 ^ 
 
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 ore. \<i t9(R9 
 
 CfLflS*l<^XX0 No. 
 
 ^ ^ s- ^ 
 
 _ COPY 9. 
 
 ENTERED WITH THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS 
 AT WASHINGTON, D. C, IN ACCORDANCE WITH 
 THE COPYRIGHT LAWS, BY 
 
 H. S. WATSON, 
 July 3, 1902. 
 
 «c c c c c c 
 
 (ii) 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THIS Manual is published in order to 
 assist those who desire to promote the 
 health and happiness of their canaries — to ascer- 
 tain all that is essential for them to know in 
 order to accomplish this. The information con- 
 tained in this book has been obtained from the 
 writer's own personal experiment and observa- 
 tion, and if the directions herein contained are 
 followed, singing birds will retain their health 
 and sing for many years ; that no young bird 
 hatched by good parents will be lost — except, of 
 course, they meet with some unforeseen acci- 
 dent. 
 
 The remedies for the various diseases to 
 which the canary-bird is possibly subject have 
 been taken from the most reliable sources — ex- 
 cepting the remedies for "red mites" — the birds 
 of the writer never having been affected with 
 
 (HI) 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 any of the other ailments said to be quite com- 
 mon to the canary. 
 
 No person should keep or breed canaries un- 
 less they are fond of them and can give them 
 their personal attention. Their care should never 
 be intrusted to careless children or forgetful 
 servants. The care of a pair of breeding birds 
 may be used as an object lesson in teaching and 
 impressing upon the dispositions of children the 
 necessity of kindness and attention to all help- 
 less birds and animals ; or may be used as a 
 means of recreation and employment to a cripple 
 or invalid unable to move freely about, and com- 
 pelled to spend many weary days or years within 
 the small confines of his or her room. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 9-15 
 
 CHAPTER I— General Information. 
 
 Synonyms 17 
 
 Description of canary-bird 17 
 
 Description of lung^s 18 
 
 Description of stomach and g-izzard 18, 19 
 
 Original color of canary-bird 19 
 
 Song- of canary 19 
 
 Habitat of original canaries 19, 20 
 
 First introduction into Europe 20 
 
 First trained singers 21 
 
 How singers are trained in Italy * 21 
 
 Number imported into the United States 21 
 
 Breeding outfits furnished by exporters 21 
 
 Best singers — where raised 22 
 
 Best grade sold at home 22 
 
 Fraud practiced 22 
 
 German canary — description of 22, 23 
 
 Belgian canary 23 
 
 Cinnamon canary 23 
 
 Norwich canary . 23 
 
 Ivondon fancy canary 24 
 
 lyizard canary 24 
 
 Other varieties 24 
 
 (v) 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER II— Proper Cark and Food. 
 
 Canary helpless if released 25 
 
 Temperature of apartment in which kept 25 
 
 How cag-e should be hung- 25, 26 
 
 Care of hen canary 26 
 
 Arrang"ement of sing-ers in apartment 26, 27 
 
 To keep a canary lively and contented 27 
 
 Size of cag-e 27 
 
 Care of cag-e 28, 29 
 
 I^ood of canaries 29 
 
 "What to avoid feeding- a canary 30 
 
 "When to g-ive a bath 30 
 
 CHAPTER III— Pairing Canaries. 
 
 "When canaries will mate 31 
 
 Four broods enoug-h 31 
 
 Should not be fed meat 32 
 
 Temperaments of males 32 
 
 Selection of male 33 
 
 How to produce best-marked young- 33, 34 
 
 Erratic hens 34 
 
 Selection of hen canary 34, 35 
 
 Pairing- two hens with one male 35 
 
 lyong- claws on old birds 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV— Breeding Cages. 
 
 Size of breeding- cag-e 36 
 
 "^^^ire-and-wood cage 36, 37 
 
 Reg-ard for cleanliness 37 
 
 Placing of perches in cage 37 
 
 Placing of nests in cage 37, 38 
 
 Arrangement of food vessels 39 
 
 "Where cage should be hung 39, 40 
 
 Protecting from the light 40 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAPTKR V— IvAYING AND HATCHING. page 
 
 Placing" birds in the breeding- cage 41 
 
 Placing- two hens with one male, Al, 42 
 
 Peculiar actions of two hens in one cage 42 
 
 Actions of male and hen 42, 43 
 
 Actions of hen before laying 43 
 
 Placing- materials for nest in cage 43, 44 
 
 The first egg... 44 
 
 When young- hatch out 45 
 
 Caution in removing- lig-ht suddenly 45 
 
 iig-g-bound hen 45 
 
 Sweating- hen 46 
 
 Barren hen and eg-g- destroyer 46, 47 
 
 Unhatched eggs — how to test 47 
 
 Removing- eg-gs from hen 47, 48 
 
 Destroying fifth egg- 48 
 
 CHAPTE^R VI— Food and Cark of Young. 
 
 How to prepare nestling- food 49 
 
 Growth of young- birds 50 
 
 Male assumes burden of caring- for young- 50 
 
 Shy parents 50 
 
 Cross-g-rained males _ 51 
 
 Interfering with young- or nest . 51 
 
 Birds hatched during- mosquito season 51 
 
 Hen prepares to lay again — becomes restless .. 52 
 
 Handling the young- birds 52, 53 
 
 Car of young- orphans... 53 
 
 CHAPTEiR VII— Training Young Singers. 
 
 How to disting-uish the young- males 55 
 
 How to arrang-e the cag-es of young- sing-ers 56 
 
 How to teach a young- bird a tune 56 
 
 Singing hens — value of to breeder 57 
 
 Starving- a bird to make it tame 58 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTI^R VIII— Hybrids, OR "Mui,ES." page 
 
 Breeding- of hybrids 59 
 
 Time to pair the crosses 60 
 
 American g^oldfinch and canary 60, 61 
 
 European g-oldfinch 
 
 
 61-63 
 
 Ivinnet 
 
 
 63, 64 
 
 Bullfinch 
 
 
 65 
 
 Greenfinch 
 
 
 65 
 
 Indig-o Bird 
 
 
 66 
 
 Chaffinch 
 
 
 69 
 
 Siskin 
 
 
 67 
 
 Nonpareil 
 
 
 67 
 
 Hawfinch 
 
 
 68 
 
 CHAPTER IX— Red Mites. 
 
 Description of insect 69 
 
 Actions of canary when affected 69, 70 
 
 To free a canary of the insects 70 
 
 Freeing- cage of insects 70, 71 
 
 Different effective remedies 71 
 
 CHAPTER X — Diseases and Remedies. 
 
 Cause of many diseases 73 
 
 Asthma... 73, 74 
 
 Bloating 74 
 
 Broken legs 74 
 
 Constipation 74, 75 
 
 Consumption 75 
 
 Clogged or sore feet 78 
 
 Diarrhoea 75 
 
 Egg-bound hen 75 
 
 Epilepsy 76 
 
 Functional derang-ement 76 
 
 L/Oss of voice 76, 77 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER X— Continued. pagb 
 
 lyong' claws or beaks 77 
 
 Moulting- 77 
 
 Obstruction of the oil g-land 77 
 
 Pairing- fever 78 
 
 Rupture 78 
 
 Ulcers 79 
 
 Vertisro 79 
 
"The busy birds, with nice selection, cull 
 Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool; 
 Far from each prying- eye the nest prepare. 
 Formed of warm moss, and lined with softest hair. 
 Week after week, reg^ardless of her food, 
 Th' incumbent hen warms her future brood; 
 Each spotted eg^g" with ivory bill she turns. 
 Day after day with fond impatience burns — 
 Hears the young" prisoner chirping- in his cell, 
 And breaks in hemispheres the fragile shell." 
 
 — Erasmus Darwin. 
 
 (x) 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 F the many books and articles relating to 
 the care and breeding of the premier cage 
 bird — the canary — the writer has not yet found 
 one that did not contain unreliable and mislead- 
 ing instructions as to its care and breeding, indi- 
 cating plainly that the various compilers could 
 not have obtained their information from actual 
 experience and study of this little domestic pet 
 and entertainer. 
 
 In a handsomely printed and bound book on 
 "The Breeding and Management of the Canary,'* 
 by Rev. Francis Smith, of London, England, he 
 says, on page 127, "... although our eight 
 hens had laid upward of eighty eggs, we only 
 succeeded in rearing three birds, which, how- 
 ever, was enough to make us hope for better 
 luck next time, and to keep us from despairing. 
 . . ." To say the least, it was presumption 
 to publish a book, purporting to instruct others 
 
 (xi) 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the manner of breeding canaries, when the 
 author acknowledges such a failure in his own 
 case. 
 
 In another booklet the author says: "In a 
 fortnight young birds will be able to shift with- 
 out their parents and to feed themselves," which 
 is just about half the time that is necessary to 
 take young birds from their parents. 
 
 Another writer says : "The male takes his 
 turn in setting upon the eggs," such not being 
 the case, for the hen would surely force him off 
 should a male persist in getting into the nest 
 while she was off, feeding or exercising. 
 
 It is this misleading information which has 
 prompted the writer to publish this Manual, 
 that those who own and admire this entertaining 
 httle songster may be able to anticipate and sup- 
 ply his wants. 
 
 Breeding canaries for the general market can 
 be done very profitably and requires but a small 
 starting capital compared with the results pro- 
 duced. A well-mated pair of canaries will breed 
 at least four times during the season if started 
 early in February in a warm room, producing, 
 on an average, three young at each hatching, at 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 least one-half of these young birds being males, 
 the writer knowing of one pair of birds laying 
 and hatching five times in one season, producing 
 sixteen birds, fourteen of which were males. 
 Young singing canaries sold by January should 
 net the breeder at least one dollar per bird, not 
 calculating the price derived from the sale of 
 hens, and if males a're held until the following 
 late spring and early summer they should net 
 fifty per cent more, the importation of foreign- 
 bred canaries havin'g ceased and singers being 
 very scarce. 
 
 In breeding canaries for the general market, 
 two apartments should be used — one for the 
 birds breeding, and the other f@r the young and 
 singing birds. The original stock, which should 
 be the best singers procurable, must not be per- 
 mitted to deteriorate, the hen's, especially, being 
 renewed from the earliest importations. 
 
 The breeding of red canaries was for a long 
 time a secret, some dealers in Europe supposing 
 the feathers to have been dyed, but this was 
 found to be a mistake, the secret being that th? 
 birds were fed upon ground red pepper, mixed 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with soft food, just previous to and during the 
 moulting of the bird. 
 
 A portion of a conservatory would make a 
 very nice aviary, when it is desired to allow the 
 birds to mingle and breed promiscuously, and 
 when it is desired to keep other varieties of seed- 
 eating birds ; but very few young birds are 
 raised in an aviary, as the idle birds are apt to 
 destroy the nests of the industrious birds and 
 injure the young, and there is always much quar- 
 reling between both males and hens. When an 
 apartment of any kind is constructed for use as 
 an aviary, care should be taken to protect it 
 from the heat of summer and the cold of winter. 
 
 An unused attic, with screened windows, and 
 a loose net before the door, to enable the floor 
 to be swept, and the room to be entered without 
 allowing the birds to escape, would be the 
 simplest and most inexpensive aviary ; an oil- 
 cloth or linoleum covering for the floor, kept 
 clean and well sanded, would answer well for this 
 room. As little dust as possible should be 
 raised where canaries are kept, as it affects the 
 lungs of these deHcate birds seriously. Fresh 
 air, sunshine in moderation, warmth, and cleanli- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ness are indispensable in order to keep your 
 birds strong and healthy. An aviary or room in 
 which canaries are kept should be heated by 
 steam, an oil-stove, or an open grate, the carbon 
 thrown off by the pipes and iron of an ordinary 
 stove being injurious to the song of canaries. 
 
But most of all, it wins my admiration, 
 
 To view the structure of this little work, 
 
 A bird's nest. Mark it well ! — within, without; 
 
 No tool had he that wrougfht — no knife to cut, 
 
 No nail to fix — no bodkin to insert — 
 
 No g"lue to join; his little beak was all. 
 
 And yet, how neatly finished 1 "What nice hand, 
 
 "With every implement and means of art. 
 
 And twenty years' apprenticeship to boot, 
 
 Could make me such another ? Fondly, then, 
 
 "We boast of excellence, whose noblest skill 
 
 Instinctive g-enius foils." 
 
 — HuRDis: " The "V^illage Curate." 
 
 (xvi) 
 
THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 General Information. 
 
 By Ornitholog-ists called Fring-illa Canaria. 
 
 Americans 
 
 French 
 
 Germans 
 
 Italians 
 
 Spaniards 
 
 Carnary-Bird. 
 Serin de Canarie. 
 Canarienvog-el. 
 Canarino. 
 Canario. 
 
 THE canary-bird is about five inches in 
 length, of which the tail comprises over 
 two inches. It has a pointed beak, long and 
 pliant neck, gently swelling shoulders, expansive 
 wings, containing eighteen pinion or quill 
 feathers in each wing, and twelve feathers in the 
 tapering tail ; light and bony feet and legs ; it is 
 covered with a soft and delicate plumage — which 
 is a non-conductor of heat in summer, and a 
 non-conductor of cold in winter — it flies, when 
 not pursued, apparently without effort, with an 
 easy undulating motion. 
 
 2 (17) 
 
18 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 Its lungs have several openings, communi- 
 cating with corresponding air bags or cells, 
 which fill the whole cavity of the body from the 
 neck downward, and into which the air passes 
 and repasses in the process of breathing. Its 
 bones are hollowed out with the design of re- 
 ceiving air from the lungs, from which air pipes 
 are conveyed to the most solid parts of the body, 
 and even into the quills and plumlets of the 
 feathers, which are hollow or spongy for its re- 
 ception. These hollow parts and cells are only 
 open on the side communicating with the lungs, 
 and it requires only to take in a full breath to 
 fill and distend its whole body with air, which, 
 in consequence of the considerable heat of its 
 body, is rendered much lighter than the air of 
 the atmosphere. By forcing this air out of the 
 body again, the weight becomes so much in- 
 creased that it can dart down from any height 
 with astonishing rapidity. 
 
 The canary has a cartilaginous stomach, 
 covered Vv^ith very strong muscles, called a giz- 
 zard, which is lined with a thick- membrane of 
 prodigous power and strength, in which organ 
 the food is completely triturated, and prepared 
 
GENERAL INEORMATION. 19 
 
 for the operation of the gastric juices. All in- 
 gredients entering the gizzard are evacuated, 
 never ejected. 
 
 The original color of the canary-bird is gray, 
 which merges into green beneath, but by means 
 of domestication, climate, and intermixture with 
 other birds, as the citril finch and serin of Italy, 
 and with the siskin and linnet of Germany and 
 England, they have become so multifarious that 
 the}^ are to be met with of almost every color 
 and hue. 
 
 Song appears to be the special privilege of 
 the male, whereby it either attracts the hen or 
 seeks to obtain her love, for there are but few 
 hens which produce notes similar to the song of 
 the male, and these almost exclusively after be- 
 ing separated from their mates during the breed- 
 ing season; but they listen attentively to the 
 song of the male, and, when allowed their own 
 selection of a mate, bestow their affection upon 
 the one whose song seems to please them the 
 most. 
 
 The birds from which are descended the 
 canaries now kept and raised throughout 
 Europe and America, were natives originally of 
 
20 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 the Canary Islands, a possession of Spain, off' 
 the northwest coast of Africa. At first the rear- 
 ing of the canary-bird in Europe was attended 
 with considerable difificulty, partly because the 
 mode of treating these delicate strangers was 
 not snfiFiciently understood, but principally be- 
 cause males chiefly and not hens were intro- 
 duced. 
 
 The first record we have of the introduction 
 of the canary into Europe proper is that ''Early 
 in the sixteenth century, a ship, which, in addi- 
 tion to other merchandise, had a large number 
 of canaries on board that were consigned to 
 Leghorn, a seaport city of Tuscany on the coast 
 of the Mediterranean Sea, was wrecked on the 
 coast of Italy, and the birds, thereby gaining 
 their liberty, flew to the nearest land — which was 
 Elba — where they found so favorable a climate 
 that they multiplied without the intervention of 
 man, and probably would have naturalized 
 themselves had not the wish to possess them 
 been so great as to cause them to be hunted after 
 until they were entirely extirpated." 
 
 In Italy, therefore, we find the first tame 
 canaries, where they still are raised in large 
 
GENERAL, INFORMATION. 21 
 
 numbers ; and here are trained the finest singing 
 canaries in the world. The birds are placed in 
 separate cages in a room and for hours daily an 
 expert violinist plays to them. He plays one 
 tune until every bird in the room is singing as if 
 in chorus, and then he changes. When these 
 birds become proficient they are worth from 
 twenty-five to five hundred dollars each. But 
 few Italian canaries are imported into the 
 United States. 
 
 It is estimated that one hundred thousand 
 canaries are imported into the United States 
 from Germany every year, where these birds are 
 bred in vast numbers to supply the markets of 
 the world. In many places the German export- 
 ers equip the farmers with entire breeding out- 
 fits free of charge and contract to buy every bird 
 raised at a stipulated price each, and the familiar 
 breeding cage may be seen during the breeding 
 season through the open door or window of the 
 home of the peasants who live in the region of 
 the Hartz Mountains. The small wooden ca^^es 
 in which the cages are shipped are made by the 
 peasants from a fir which grows upon the moun- 
 tains. 
 
22 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 The best songsters are raised in the Hartz 
 Mountains, particularly in the village of St. 
 Andreasberg, vvhere^ with the aid of an instru- 
 ment called a bird organ, they train the variety 
 called ''rollers," whose song consists of a long, 
 rolling whistle, the most highly prized of all 
 German canaries. The finest of these have no 
 ''chop notes," and use what is called the "water 
 roll," the "bell," and the "flute notes." 
 
 It is not generally known that but fe\v first- 
 class singing canaries are imported into the 
 United States unless specially ordered, as the 
 dealers find a ready market for their superior 
 grades on the Continent, the birds shipped to 
 the United States being of the second and third 
 grades mostly. 
 
 The German canaries are by far the best 
 songsters of all the different varieties ; but many 
 are sold under this title which do not deserve the 
 name, many unscrupulous dealers using the dis- 
 carded wooden cages of the imported birds in 
 which to sell American-bred birds. 
 
 The genuine German canary has a very sweet, 
 soft song, full of beautiful trills and shakes, not 
 shrill and ear-piercing like the majority of Amer- 
 
GENERAL IXI^ORMATION. 23 
 
 ican-bred canaries. It is generally a small and 
 short bird, with a large throat, and will sing 
 almost constantly, both during the day and by 
 artificial light, and under the most adverse cir- 
 cumstances ; it is generally very sensible and 
 affectionate and very easily tamed. 
 
 The Belgian canary is a tall, stoop-shouldered 
 bird, the top of the head, when the bird is stand- 
 ing erect, being a little lower than its shoulders, 
 its tail touching the perch. It is a delicate and 
 lazy bird, though a high-priced one, a fine speci- 
 men costing as high as twenty-five dollars. They 
 are of no one color, and but ordinary songsters. 
 
 The cinnamon canary is a brown bird, v/ith- 
 out any white feathers in its wings or tail. It 
 resembles the German canary in shape and song, 
 and by some writers it is claimed that a perfect 
 specimen should have pink eyes. 
 
 The Norwich canary is of somewhat compact 
 form and beautiful plumage. They are a strong 
 bird, of fairly good and powerful song. Some 
 have large, beautiful crests, and their color is 
 often a deep yellow, or a mixture of yello v and 
 white. This variety of canary was formerly bred 
 in large numbers in Norwich and principally sold 
 
24 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 in London, but is not common in the United 
 States. 
 
 The London fancy canary is of a rich golden 
 \ello\v or deep orange, with black wings and 
 tail. This variety is supposed to have originally 
 been produced by crossing a male of the lizard 
 variety with a French hen with black spots in 
 her plumage, or by crossing an ordinary mealy- 
 colored hen with an American goldfinch. 
 
 The lizard canary — so called from its re- 
 semblance to the reptile of this name — is of a 
 bronze-green throughout ; the crown of the head 
 of the gclden-spangled lizard being yellow, and 
 the crown of the silver-spangled being white. 
 The markings or spangles of the feathers are 
 very regular, and the bird should have no white 
 feathers in either wings or tail, but these gen- 
 erally make their appearance as the bird grows 
 old. 
 
 The French variety, with ruffled feathers ; 
 the Manchester coppy, with large crests ; the 
 Scotch fancy variety ; the Yorkshire, and several 
 other varieties, are, as a general rule, but indif- 
 ferent songsters, and have ceased to be of intei- 
 est to the breeders. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 Proper Care and Food. 
 
 THE canary, never having known wider 
 freedom than that of the cage, and being 
 accustomed to find its food and drink prepared 
 for it without any expenditure of labor, has no 
 idea of searching for food should it escape or be 
 released from its cage, but would perish from 
 hunger or be destroyed by some natural enemy 
 of the bird. 
 
 Being, in their natural state, inhabitants of a 
 mild-climated country, and rendered delicate by 
 a constant life in rooms, they have become 
 habituated to a temperature similar to that of 
 their native islands, and care is necessary in 
 winter in order that a uniform temperature may 
 be preserved, carefully avoiding an exposure to 
 cold air and draughts, than which there is noth- 
 ing more fatal to a canary's song and health. 
 
 Its cage should be hung not less than two 
 
 (25) 
 
26 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 feet below the ceiling of a room, in order to 
 avoid the vitiated atmosphere alwasy found near 
 a ceiling; nor should it be hung less than six feet 
 above the floor. This places a timid bird out of 
 the reach of persons who thoughtlessly place 
 their faces close to the cage, or place their hands 
 upon the cage, thus frightening the bird. 
 
 A hen should be kept, if intended for breed- 
 ing purposes, in a large breeding cage, in order 
 that she may have sufficient space to keep her 
 limbs in constant exercise, and preserve the bird 
 in health and strength. They should have the 
 same kind of food as the males, but in winter she 
 may have more miscellaneous food than the 
 male and less seeds. A hen canary is more 
 partial to water than a male, and should be given 
 a bath daily. 
 
 When there are two or more singing birds in 
 the same room it is best to keep them as far 
 apart as possible, or have them placed in such 
 positions as will prevent them seeing each other, 
 for some birds, though excellent singers when 
 placed alone in a room, are of such a pugnacious 
 disposition that at the sight of another bird they 
 
PROPER CARE AND FOOD. 27 
 
 cease to sing and continually strive to get out 
 of their cage. 
 
 As a male canary in full song will mate at 
 any time of the year, a hen should never be kepi 
 m the same room with a good songster, nor, if 
 possible, within his hearing, as she will call to 
 him, causing him to frequently break off in his 
 song. 
 
 To keep a canary in a happy and contented 
 condition, it is necessary occasionally to hang it 
 in brilliant daylight, if possible in the morning 
 sunshine, especially when giving them their bath, 
 but with the window closed, unless it be a still, 
 warm day. To keep a male canary in a kitchen, 
 or in a room where culinary work is performed, 
 spoils both its plumage and song. 
 
 The cage in which a canary is confined should 
 be roomy — better too large than too small. It 
 should be of brass, and be thoroughly polished 
 occasionally with a stifif brush and fine ashes 
 from a stove or grate made into a paste with 
 water, after which it should be thoroughly 
 rinsed and dried. The bird can be transferred to 
 another cage temporarily by removing the 
 
28 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 perches from the cage which is to be cleaned 
 and placing the two cages, with the bottoms 
 removed, upon a table, with the two open doors 
 together. The bird will hop from one into the 
 other, and can be retransferred in the same man- 
 ner after its regular cage has been cleaned and 
 prepared. 
 
 Every cage should have two sets of perches 
 in order that a clean, dry set may be substituted 
 for those which have become dirty, without 
 being compelled to wash and immediately re- 
 place the same set, as wet perches sometimes 
 give a bird rheumatism in its feet. A bird's perch 
 should not be less than one-half inch in diameter 
 tc insure ease and comfort. Should the perch be 
 too small, the claws sometimes curl round and 
 enter the toes and cause them to wither. The 
 perches should be perfectly smooth and round, 
 and if possible be made of cedar wood. 
 
 Clean gravel should be spread thickly upon 
 the bottom of the cage. A screen made of close- 
 knit cloth can be made to fit around the cage by 
 passing a piece of elastic through a seam at the 
 top, the two ends meeting at the door and tied, 
 with the bottom gathered and tied tightly with 
 
PROPER CARE AND FOOD. 29 
 
 a ribbon. This screen can be made very orna- 
 mental, and need not be removed until it is 
 necessary to renew the gravel in the bottom of 
 the cage, which it is not necessary to do more 
 than once a week, if it has been spread thickly. 
 The cups containing the seed and water can be 
 removed daily by simply drawing the elastic out, 
 and no hulls, feathers or gravel will be strewn 
 upon the floor. 
 
 Canaries thrive best upon a mixture of Sicily 
 or Spanish canary-seed and German sweet sum- 
 mer rape-seed, about two parts of the former to 
 one of the latter, though canaries are more 
 partial to rape-seed in winter than in summer. 
 Some birds being of a wasteful disposition, it is 
 best not to put more than enough seed for each 
 day in the cup, but the drinking and seed cups 
 should be frequently scalded and cleansed. A 
 piece of cuttle bone should be placed inside the 
 cage at one end of the perch nearest the seed 
 cup, fastened with a wire thread looped through 
 two holes, as a bird will persistently peck it loose 
 if fastened with a string. 
 
 Bad seed will often cause disease and the 
 death of a canary, if tainted by mice, roaches or 
 
30 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 mildew, so that it is of great importance to pur- 
 chase it from a dealer who handles only fresh 
 and sound seed. 
 
 A singing canary should have no hemp seed, 
 bread, sugar, candy or cake, for if it is fed these 
 dainties — which are unnatural foods to a seed- 
 eating bird — his song will weaken and finally 
 cease. No paper should be placed in the bottom 
 of its cage, as they peck at this, and the ingredi- 
 ents it contains will give the bird diarrhoea, 
 which is sometimes very hard to cure. Once or 
 twice a week a little chopped hard-boiled egg 
 should be given a canary, or a small piece of 
 lettuce or water-cress in summer, in winter a 
 small piece of sweet apple or celery once a week. 
 
 A bath may be given to a sinking canary 
 every day during summer if it will take one, once 
 or twice a week during spring or fall, and none 
 at all during very cold weather, unless the room 
 ill which the bird is kept is quite warm. The 
 water for his bath must never be chilled, nor 
 must it be tepid, as a bird will not bathe in tepid 
 water, nor will it bathe in the same water on two 
 consecutive days, although it will often enter the 
 same water two or three times the same day. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 Pairing Canaries. 
 
 WHEN the temperature is kept even and 
 mild a male in full song and an active, 
 prolific hen will often breed during any month 
 in the year ; but when canaries are not being 
 raised for profit it is best to pair the birds in 
 February, for it is generally acknowledged that 
 the best singers develop from the birds hatched 
 during the months of February and March. 
 
 Unless the birds are being raised solely for 
 profit, four broods should satisfy the owner of a 
 good pair of birds, for to permit a hen to lay 
 and hatch out more than four broods will often 
 exhaust her vitality, and a good mother bird, 
 from a good strain of singers, should be well 
 taken care of. On the other hand, it is a well- 
 known fact that a good breeding hen one year 
 may turn out to be, worthless the following 
 season, often destroying her eggs or maiming 
 
 (31) 
 
32 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 her young, though this destructive propensity 
 may be caused by feeding the hen a piece of 
 bacon rind in order to permit the easy laying 
 of her eggs — quite a common practice among 
 some persons who raise canaries. 
 
 Meat of any description fed to a canary will 
 develop carnivorous propensities and an angry, 
 quarrelsome disposition, meat being an un- 
 natural food to any seed-eating bird ; and the 
 object should be always to make the food and 
 surroundings of a cage bird conform to those 
 of its natural state as nearly as possible. 
 
 By observing them closely, it will be found 
 that every canary is possessed of some charac- 
 teristic peculiarly its own. Some males are 
 always dejected, sing but little, are indifferent to 
 their mates, and are unfit for breeding purposes ; 
 others are too choleric, incessantly snap at and 
 chase about the females, and often kill them and 
 their young; others are too ardent, annoy fhe 
 hen while she is setting, tear the nest, throw out 
 the eggs, or continually excite her to pair until 
 she quits her eggs or neglects her young; 
 others, in the breeding season, sing so inces- 
 santly and so powerfully that they rupture the 
 
PAIRING CANARIES. 33 
 
 small vessels of the lungs and suddenly drop 
 dead. 
 
 In selecting a male canary, notice the ones 
 that stand the most erect on their perches and 
 hop quickly and smartly about their cages ; then 
 hear them sing before deciding which to pur- 
 chase, and select the one which has the fullest 
 and most melodious tone. A really good bird 
 will sing under the most unfavorable conditions. 
 Should a bird refuse to sing when separated 
 from others, do not purchase it. A dealer in 
 canaries generally keeps the best singers and 
 most costly in a dark room, or has them covered 
 with a thin cloth, not permitting them to sing 
 freely. The feathers of a healthy bird are 
 smooth and lay close to its body. Should a bird 
 feel soft and spongy when taken in the hand it 
 is unhealthy and weak. The toes and legs of a 
 young bird are smooth^ and its claws small and 
 short, while the legs of an old bird are scaly and 
 its claws long. 
 
 Those birds of a green and brown color 
 paired with a bright yellow hen often produce 
 dusky-white young. A bright yellow male should 
 be mated with a mealy-colored hen to produce 
 
34 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 handsome young. A green male mated with a 
 deep - yellow hen often produce the much- 
 admired cinnamon bird. If the male be a mottled 
 bird and the hen light yellow the young will most 
 likely be divided in the resemblance to their 
 parents. It is generally found that where one 
 bird is crested and the other has a smooth head 
 the young are about equally divided. Two 
 crested birds must never be mated, as the heads 
 of the young w411 be deformed in some manner, 
 often being bald or having ulcers on the ridges 
 upon which the feathers should grow. 
 
 Some hens merely lay and quit their eggs as 
 soon as laid ; others feed their young badly, 
 pluck out their feathers, and bite ofif portions of 
 the wings of their young; others lay with much 
 exertion and labor, and when they should hatch 
 become sickly, or lay again after a long interval. 
 
 Hens should be selected which are known to 
 have come from good singing stock, and should 
 be of a lively disposition, as lazy, pufTy hens 
 seldom make good mothers. It is generally 
 found that timid and apparently wild hens make 
 the closest setters and the best mothers. In pur- 
 chasing a hen canary select a young bird, as an 
 
PAIRING CANARIKS 35 
 
 old hen may have been bred the previous season 
 and been sold by her owner on account of some 
 bad practice. 
 
 It is always the safest plan to mate an old hen 
 with a young male, or a young hen with an old 
 male; a brother should never be paired with a 
 sister, or a father with a daughter, or vice versa. 
 
 If it is desired to mate two hens to one male 
 they should be kept together for some time in 
 order that they may become perfectly familiar 
 with each other, thus providing, if possible, 
 against their quarreling after they have been 
 placed in the cage with the male. 
 
 The nails or claws of old birds must be 
 clipped, to prevent them becoming entangled in 
 the materials of the nest and thus possibly 
 dragging the eggs or young out in getting in and 
 out. By holding the bird's feet to the light the 
 ''red ray" will show how far it is safe to clip them 
 without drawing blood. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Breeding Cages. 
 
 /Tp\ HE larger the breeding cage the better the 
 -^ birds will prosper. A breeding cage 
 should not be less than twenty inches long, 
 twelve wide and about fifteen high, divided into 
 two compartments, or into three compartments 
 if two hens are paired to one male. A cage made 
 entirely of metal is always preferable, as being 
 easier to clean and less liable to be infested with 
 those persistent enemies of the canary, "red 
 mites." 
 
 If the ordinary wood-and-wire cage is used, 
 and the cage should not be a new one, examine 
 it thoroughly and carefully for these pests ; for 
 if your birds have but recently been purchased 
 from a bird dealer, you may be sure that they 
 have these insects upon them, the writer never 
 yet having seen a bird come from a dealer that 
 did not bring these insects with it. Should youi 
 (36) 
 
BREEDING CAGES. 37 
 
 cage or bird have these insects about it, proceed 
 to get rid of them as directed in the chapter on 
 "Red Mites," Chapter IX. It may be safely said 
 that the cause of many of the failures to breed 
 canaries successfully can be directly or indirectly 
 traced to the birds being worried and fretted by 
 these insects. 
 
 Having properly cleaned the breeding cage, 
 a set of four perches must be placed in it — two 
 about four inches from the ends and the same 
 distance from the top ; the two lower perches 
 about two inches from the ends and the same 
 distance above the bottom, or of a sufificient 
 height to enable the birds to easily reach the seed 
 cups. If the cage has a wooden back^ small 
 holes can be made with a gimlet at the proper 
 distance from the top and bottom, to correspond 
 with the rest of the perch at the other end, one 
 end of the perch being grooved or forked, the 
 other being trimmed to a point to fit in the hole 
 m.ade with the gimlet ; these perches should not 
 be less than one-half inch in diameter at the 
 middle. 
 
 Two nests must be supplied for each hen, one 
 in each of the four corners of the cage, about 
 
38 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 three inches from the top. If one female only is 
 used — and it is always safer to use but one — two 
 nests, one in each end at the back of the cage, 
 are necessary only. It is safer to use the small 
 willow baskets made for the purpose as nests, 
 than the woven wire variety, the birds being 
 sometimes caught by a claw in the latter kind 
 and having a leg broken in trying to extricate 
 itself. 
 
 The metal breeding cages have a frame in 
 which a basket fits nicely, which frame in turn 
 fits into a socket soldered to the back of the 
 cage. If a wire-and-wood cage is used, the nests 
 can be fastened with wire thread attached to the 
 top of the cage. These wire threads should pass 
 beneath the basket and be fastened from three 
 different points to prevent the nest from tilting 
 to one side, and thereby throwing out the eggs 
 or young birds. 
 
 A tinner can make a wire loop into which a 
 willow nest will fit snugly and not fall through, 
 or it may be more securely fastened with wire 
 thread inserted through the rim of the nest and 
 around the wire. This loop should have two 
 ends over six inches long, bent vertically, which 
 
BREEDING CAGES. 39 
 
 may rest upon the top ridge or binding wire of 
 the cage outside from the inside, then forced in- 
 side again, and braced against the lower ridge 
 of binding wire. This style of nest can be re- 
 moved and cleaned easily if placed in position 
 properly, whereas, if fastened with the thread as 
 described in the preceding paragraph, it is sta- 
 tionary. 
 
 If the cage has not the usual arrangement in 
 the ends for holding the seed and water cups, the 
 wires may be easily bent a little with a pair of 
 ordinary pliers and a thin nail driven at an angle 
 from the outside to prevent the cups from fall- 
 ing backward. Clean sand or gravel should be 
 spread over the bottom to the depth of a quarter 
 of an inch or more, and a piece of cuttle-bone 
 for each hen fastened inside above the lower 
 perch, as it is composed of pure carbonate of 
 lime and is wholesome and positively necessary 
 to prevent the hen laying soft-shell eggs. It 
 should be renewed for every prospective brood, 
 as they also feed it to the young birds. 
 
 The cage having now been prepared, it 
 should be hung in a light, quiet corner of the 
 room, about two feet below the ceiling, and 
 
40 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 Vvhere the temperature is even and not too 
 warm, and out of the reach of prying children 
 and inquisitive visitors, as it is necessary that 
 the birds be not interfered with more than is 
 absolutely necessary; nor must the cage be re- 
 moved or cleaned while a brood is being hatched 
 and reared. 
 
 A small piece of cloth should be fastened 
 over the opposite end of the cage in which the 
 hen is setting, in order that the light which may 
 be burning in the room at night will not worry 
 the male, as he generally roosts upon the perch 
 away from the female ; or, what is better still, a 
 screen can be placed across the entire front of 
 the cage, about six inches below the top ; this 
 will shield both birds and still admit sufficient 
 light. A paper or some other covering may be 
 placed upon the top of the cage to protect it 
 from dust. 
 
 After the first brood has been successfully 
 reared greater liberty may be taken with the 
 parents, and the sliding bottom removed and 
 freshly sanded, as they will by this time have 
 acquired confidence in your good intention 
 toward their young. 
 

 
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CHAPTER V. 
 Laying and Hatching. 
 
 THE birds having already been selected and 
 freed from parasites, if they were origin- 
 ally possessed of any, the wire partition used for 
 dividing the cage into two compartments should 
 be placed in position and the male placed in one 
 compartment and the hen in the other, in order 
 that both birds may become familiar with their 
 new quarters and with each other. After two or 
 three days have elapsed the partition may be 
 taken out. 
 
 If two hens are mated to one male, only one 
 hen Is placed in the compartment with the male, 
 and after they have mated and the hen has laid 
 all her eggs, the male may be placed in the other 
 compartment with the remaining hen by raising 
 the partition and placing your hand against the 
 side in which he is, and when he has flown across 
 lowering it again. When the second hen has 
 
 (41) 
 
42 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 built her nest the partition can be removed en« 
 tirely, and the male will feed and attend both 
 hens, provided they have all three become 
 friends, which Is not always the case. Should 
 both hens be allowed together in the cage at one 
 time without the partition being used, they 
 might both select the same nest, and one hen 
 having secured possession, the other would sit 
 on or near it until the occupant was driven off 
 by hunger or thirst, when she would immediately 
 take possession of it, and trouble would surely 
 follow. 
 
 It is a curious fact, perhaps not known to 
 every one, that when there are two hens with 
 one male in a cage, and one hen dies, the other, 
 if she has not already laid her eggs, will hatch 
 the eggs laid by her co-mate, and rear the young 
 as her own ; and, during this foster-mother care, 
 carefully avoid the caresses of the male. 
 
 The male and hen may fight, or the male may 
 seemingly avoid the hen and give way to her in 
 apparent fear for a short time, but if they are 
 suited to each other the male will begin to feed 
 the hen, and when he does this you may be 
 assured that all is going well so far as their pair- 
 
lyAYING AND HATCHING. 43 
 
 ing is concerned. A piece of tissue paper or 
 string should be placed between the wires at this 
 time. 
 
 Probably in a day the male will commence 
 to flit about the cage in front of the hen with 
 a piece of string or paper in his beak, and shake 
 it in the sand upon the bottom of the cage, and 
 go in and out of the nest. 
 
 The hen, for some time, will appear not to 
 notice him ; but she will soon begin to get rest- 
 less and fly from one perch to another and 
 against the wires of the cage, appearing to be in 
 distress, or she may tug at the feathers on her 
 breast as though in misery. She will then pick 
 up a piece of string or paper and still fly about 
 in an uneasy manner, perhaps for one or two 
 days, and sometimes longer if a young bird, not 
 noticing the nest at all ; finally, she will go into 
 one or both of the nests and right out again, but 
 will finally select one and bustle around in it. 
 
 Now is the time to place the building material 
 in the cage, which must consist of some pieces of 
 tissue paper, string, excelsior, and raveled tow- 
 eling, all cut into lengths of about two inches , 
 not longer, as the materials are woven together, 
 
44 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 and should some of the ends hang over the edge 
 of the nest, and the male have the bad habit — 
 which some males have — of pulling them out, he 
 is liable to pull the whole nest out. The build- 
 mg of the nest occupies from one to three days, 
 and is built entirely by the female. After the 
 hen has been working on her nest the first day 
 some medicated cotton or wool should be added 
 to the building material, as some hens, being 
 very erratic, will not build without it. The build- 
 ing material can be placed on the top of the cage, 
 directly over one of the perches, tied about with 
 a string and a weight placed upon it, as a hen 
 seems to delight in being compelled to use force 
 in pulling the strands out. 
 
 The first egg is generally laid within a week 
 after the pairing of the birds takes place, the 
 birds having in the meantime had hard-boiled 
 egg given them in addition to their regular seed. 
 Prom three to six eggs are laid, not always one 
 each day, it generally taking the hen six days 
 to lay five eggs. As the hen eats the cuttle-bone 
 the evening previous to laying an egg, she has 
 laid all her eggs when she ceases doing this. 
 
 The hen may cover the first egg laid, but 
 
LAYING AND HATCHING. 45 
 
 does not begin to sit close until the second egg 
 has been laid, consequently it is thirteen days 
 from the time the second egg has been laid until 
 the first young bird is hatched, the remainder of 
 the eggs being hatched in the order in which 
 they were laid^ thirteen days from the laying of 
 each egg, there sometimes being four or five 
 days' difference in the age of the birds, the last 
 born often dying, being too weak to struggle 
 successfully for its portion of food. 
 
 Care should be taken not to remove a light 
 from the room in which the hen is setting with- 
 out first being sure that she is on her nest, as 
 they frequently come off to eat or drink when 
 persons are moving about in a lighted room, 
 and should a light be suddenly removed or e:?t- 
 tinguished the hen would be unable to get back 
 on her nest and the eggs become dead and 
 worthless. 
 
 Some young hens become egg-bound and are 
 unable to eject the egg, and sit puffed up on the 
 perch or on the bottom of the cage ; in such case 
 treat them as instructed in the chapter on 
 "Diseases and Their Remedies." 
 
 Should the eggs fail to hatch after the hen 
 
46 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 has sat upon them faithfully, the eggs were in- 
 fertile, which may have been the fault of the 
 male, or the hen may have been a hybrid, and 
 the one at fault must be found and removed and 
 another substituted. 
 
 Sometimes a hen will come ofif the eggs or 
 young birds with the feathers of the abdomen 
 very wet. This is called a "sweating" hen, and 
 though it is no doubt very weakening, it really 
 amounts to nothing serious ; but a bath should 
 always be in the cage for her use if she is so 
 inclined, although but few setting hens will go 
 into the water, but will do so after the young 
 birds are a few days old, sometimes two or three 
 times the same day. 
 
 A hen will occasionally be found that builds 
 her nest, but does not lay an egg; she will set 
 the same as any hen that has laid four or five. 
 Such a bird should be gotten rid of, as she is 
 worthless, being a barren hen, or afflicted with 
 what is termed "functional derangement." A 
 setting hen should never be forced off her nest. 
 If, for any reason, you should desire to inspect 
 the nest or young birds, place a step-ladder in 
 the proper position and wait until she has left 
 
LAYING AND HATCHING. 47 
 
 the nest for food or exercise, then go quickly 
 and make your inspection. 
 
 Again, hens are met with that eat their eggs, 
 which is often caused by the person who attends 
 to them not keeping a sufficient supply of food 
 in the cage, which should be looked after care- 
 fully. 
 
 Should there remain eggs in the nest un- 
 hatched after the sixteenth day they are no 
 doubt infertile or contain dead birds and may as 
 well be thrown away. They may be tested, how- 
 ever, by dropping them into a cup of tepid 
 water ; if they sink toward the bottom they con- 
 tain a bird, dead or alive ; should they refuse to 
 sink at all they are surely addled and worthless. 
 Young birds are sometimes killed in the egg by 
 loud and startling noises, such as the firing of a 
 gun, slamming of a door, or thunder. 
 
 Some breeders, when the hen has commenced 
 to lay, remove the eggs, placing them in a box 
 filled with clean, dry sand, substituting, as each 
 egg is taken away, an artificial egg, sometimes 
 whittled from a piece of chalk, and after the hen 
 has laid all her eggs, returning them to the nest. 
 In this manner, they have the birds all hatched 
 
48 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 at once, and not at intervals, as in the natural 
 process of hatching. This interference with a 
 laying hen should only be attempted by one who 
 is thoroughly familiar with the hen, as she is 
 very liable to desert the nest if she be not of an 
 amiable disposition. This removal of the eggs 
 should not be attempted with the first laying, but 
 may be after one or more broods have been 
 raised. 
 
 It is customary for some who breed canaries 
 to take away the fifth egg laid by a hen and 
 destroy it, as it interferes with her in setting, it 
 being a smaller tgg than the other four and 
 nearly always turning out, when hatched, to be 
 a weak bird, besides being generally hatched 
 some four days after the first two birds. 
 
 Care should be taken that the water vessels 
 in a breeding cage are shallow, as young birds 
 sometimes contrive to get into them, and being 
 unable to turn around or get out, are drowned 
 before the attendant has discovered their con- 
 dition. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 Food and Care of Young Birds. 
 
 THE time for the young birds to hatch out 
 having arrived, the seed should be taken 
 away and a preparation of hard-boiled Qgg and 
 bread crumbs supplied to the old birds. The 
 bread should be without salt, or home-made, if 
 possible, baked in an oven until it is dry and 
 brittle — not burnt — and rolled or grated into a 
 fine powder. At first a teaspoonful of these 
 crumbs should be added to half a fresh hard- 
 boiled egg, minced or chopped very fine, and 
 thoroughly mixed, never allowed to become the 
 least bit sour, and supplied to the birds so soon 
 as it becomes light enough in the morning to 
 enable the parents to see to feed the young. 
 (Whenever the words "nestling food" are used 
 hereafter, they mean this preparation.) After 
 the young have become a week old the seed may 
 be returned to the cage in a decreased quantity, 
 4 (49) 
 
50 THE DOMESTIC SOXG BIRD. 
 
 with the addition of a teaspoonful of ground 
 hemp seed — not more. This seed can be ground 
 in an ordinary coffee mill ; but the nestling food 
 of egg and bread crumbs must be continued in 
 the same quantity so long as the young birds are 
 in the cage with their parents, and in a decreased 
 nuantity after they have been separated and re- 
 covered from their first moult, which is generally 
 at the end of about tw^o months. 
 
 Young birds do not appear to grow very 
 rapidly until after the first week. In ten days 
 they will be able to see, and after they are two 
 weeks old they are likely to leave the nest at any 
 time, to which they will not return, though they 
 may sit upon its edges. 
 
 The male generally takes the greatest share 
 of the duty of feeding the young birds after the 
 first few days, previous to which he procures and 
 macerates the food, feeding it to the hen, who in 
 turn feeds it to the young birds. 
 
 Some birds are very shy of being seen to feed 
 their young, and it is difficult to find out whether 
 they perform their duty or not ; others will de- 
 light in being noticed, and will call attention to 
 their infant brood with great parental pride. 
 
FOOD AND CARE OF YOUNG BIRDS, 51 
 
 Sometimes a cross-grained male will be an- 
 noyed at the mother's attention to her young, 
 and will not only neglect, but injure them. If 
 he does this once he must not be trusted again, 
 but removed, as soon as the young are hatched, 
 to the next compartment, and the mother will 
 often bring up her brood by herself. 
 
 It may be necessary to change the nest when 
 it becomes very dirty; but this must not be at- 
 tempted except with very tame birds who have 
 entire confidence in the good intentions of their 
 owner toward the young, until they are tolerably 
 well fledged, as the hen will sometimes show her 
 displeasure at having her nest meddled with by 
 refusing to return to it. She may, perhaps, still 
 feed the young birds, but if a cold night follows 
 and she does not cover the young, they will 
 perish. It is necessary to keep some supervision 
 over the nest, however, as a weakly bird may 
 die in it, and if not taken out it will remain 
 trodden down by the living birds until corrup- 
 tion takes place. 
 
 Should young birds be hatched during the 
 mosquito season the cage must be covered with 
 a mosquito netting, which can be raised and laid 
 
52 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 back upon the top of the cage during the day 
 and lowered at night. 
 
 When young birds are about two weeks old 
 the hen generally begins preparations for an- 
 other brood, leaving the care of her young 
 entirely to the male^ and she must be supplied 
 with the materials with which to construct her 
 nest as before. The sliding bottom of the cage 
 should be withdrawn, thoroughly cleaned and 
 sanded. Some hens will insist on laying in the 
 same nest with the young, in which case the 
 young may be placed in a shallow wooden box 
 lined with cotton^ and set upon the floor of the 
 cage, where the male will attend them. 
 
 Some breeders place the young on one side 
 of the partition as soon as they leave the nest, 
 and the parents on the other side ; but this is not 
 necessary unless the male should become vicious 
 and attack them. The hen does not generally 
 bother them unless they persist in sitting upon 
 the edge of the nest, when she drives them off 
 by gentle pecks. 
 
 At the end of four weeks the young are able 
 to feed themselves and should be placed in a 
 large cage — an unpainted breeding cage will do 
 
FOOD AND CARE OF YOUNG BIRDS. 53 
 
 — out of sight and hearing of their father, with 
 perches fixed near the ends of the cage in order 
 that they may be compelled to use their wings 
 in going from one perch to another. 
 
 In removing a brood of young birds from the 
 cage in which they were born, they should be 
 gathered on one side of the breeding cage, the 
 partition let down, caught as quickly as possible, 
 and taken away by an assistant, who should be 
 at hand. 
 
 The young birds must have the same food as 
 before, both the nestling and seed, but as they 
 grow older the soft food can be decreased until 
 they have moulted, after which the nestling food 
 can be discontinued altogether, and the birds fed 
 and cared for the same as are regular songsters, 
 the directions for which have been already given. 
 
 If through some accident the little birds 
 should be left orphans, keep the nest as warm 
 as possible, give each bird so much as will go on 
 a quill pen, dipped in the yolk of an egg, of the 
 nestling food, about three penfuls every hour 
 during the day, until they are able to shift for 
 themselves. 
 
 After young canaries leave the nest they 
 
54 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 appear to many persons to be sickly, as they sit 
 upon the perches in a puffy manner, and do not 
 appear to be as clamorous for food as while in 
 the nest ; but they are not sick, and will fly wildly 
 about the cage whenever the person attending 
 them goes near to replenish the food and drink- 
 ing vessels. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Training Young Singers. 
 
 ^\V^ OUNG birds sometimes begin to warble 
 ^ when they are about three weeks old, but 
 this is not always the case. Both the males and 
 the hens warble at first, and they generally start 
 it while sitting lazily upon the perch, or may be 
 started by running water, operating a sewing 
 machine or turning a coffee-mill. It is some- 
 what difficult to distinguish the males from the 
 hens when they are young, but the males are of 
 a deeper color about the head, neck, and upper 
 part of the body ; the neck is more extended ; the 
 body is more lithe and slender ; there is a larger 
 swelling of the throat, and the warbling is more 
 continuous and frequent as they grow older, and 
 altogether they have a more bold and bright 
 look than do the hens, the latter being generally 
 of lighter color and more broad and "dumpy" 
 
 (55) 
 
56 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 in their general appearance, their warbHng be- 
 coming less frequent and finally lapsing into a 
 chirp. 
 
 When the young males are through their first 
 moult they should be each placed in a cage by 
 itself, and the cages so arranged that the birds 
 can not see each other, and placed within the 
 hearing of a first-class songster. If the young 
 birds hear the song of but one bird they will 
 acquire his notes, to which they often add their 
 own, but they more readily pick up the chop- 
 notes (this chop-note resembles the word 
 "chop," repeated rapidly) of a common nerve- 
 racker, and care should be taken that they be 
 kept out of hearing of such a bird. 
 
 To teach a young canary a tune he must be 
 placed in a small wire cage, which, at the com- 
 mencement must be covered with muslin, and by 
 degrees with thicker woolen cloth, when a short 
 air must be whistled to him, or a flute, a phono- 
 graph or small organ may be used. This lesson 
 must be repeated five or six times a day, 
 especially mornings and evenings, and in about 
 six months, if the bird is possessed of a good 
 memory, he will have acquired the air. 
 
TRAINING YOUNG CANARIES. 57 
 
 Occasionally a hen will develop into an ex- 
 ceedingly good singer, which has caused it to 
 be mistaken and purchased for a male, the real 
 sex being only discovered when she has sur- 
 prised her owner late in the following spring or 
 early summer by laying several eggs. A singing 
 female, if a good mother, is worth her weight 
 in gold to a breeder, who would, no doubt, rather 
 keep her than the best male he possessed, as 
 her progeny are always the very best singers. 
 In case the sex of a singing canary is in doubt it 
 should be placed, during the breeding season, 
 near the cage of a male. Both birds will stop 
 singing almost entirely and cling to the sides of 
 the cage nearest to each other; the male droop- 
 ing his wings, raising the feathers on his head, 
 and giving vent to frequent short bursts of song. 
 If the doubtful bird proves to be a hen the male 
 will continually utter a low click, something en- 
 tirely different from what you have ever heard 
 him use before. Should the doubtful bird prove 
 to be a male they will soon resume their song 
 and not bother about each other, except they 
 may occasionally want to fight. 
 
 A canary may be taught to sing while sitting 
 
58 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 upon the finger, by keeping it for some time in a 
 cage without food, and while sitting upon the 
 finger its favorite food must be held to it upon 
 the tip of the extended tongue. A bird must be 
 taught while it is young, and soon becomes very 
 tame. 
 
 Some young canaries are very late in develop- 
 ing into good singers, appearing to spend their 
 time in playing about their cage, picking up 
 grains of sand, or strengthening their beaks by 
 testing the wires of their cages, it often being 
 six or seven months before they really begin to 
 sino-. It has not been idle, however, for it will 
 eventually surprise its owner by turning out to 
 be one of the very best singers, having absorbed 
 and stowed away in its little memory all the 
 notes of the birds to which it has been listening. 
 A season's crop of young canaries may be 
 divided into three grades, even if both parents 
 were cf the finest strain, a few always being but 
 indifferent singers, seeming to be lacking in live- 
 hness and imitativeness, and possessing no 
 mem.ory at all in comparison with their more 
 sprightly brothers. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Hybrids, or "Mules." 
 
 THE breeding of hybrids — the progeny of 
 crossing or mating the canary with 
 ether species of the finch or seed-eating tribe — 
 possesses a fascination to the breeder of canaries 
 which it is hard to resist, notwithstanding that 
 the chances of failure outnumber two to one the 
 chance of evolving a bird of superior song and 
 beautiful plumage. 
 
 In pairing a canary with a different species 
 of seed-eating bird it must be remembered that 
 a hen canary is always to be preferred, although 
 it is by no means certain that just as good re- 
 sults may not be obtained by using a male canary 
 and a hen of another species if such a hen is per- 
 fectly domesticated and tame, for it must also be 
 borne in mind that these birds were born in their 
 natural state and still possess, to a certain ex- 
 tent, their wild instincts and natural timidity. 
 
 (59) 
 
60 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 About the middle of April, if the spring 
 promises to be early and warm, is the best time 
 to pair these crosses, placing one bird on each 
 side of the breeding cage for about a week, or 
 until they seem to have become thoroughly 
 familiar with each other and their new surround- 
 ings. 
 
 It may be impossible to procure some of the 
 species mentioned if arrangements are not made 
 with some importer of foreign birds about the 
 beginning of September or October, as these 
 importers make arrangements with their foreign 
 buyers in regard to the variety and number of 
 birds wanted. 
 
 The following-named and described species 
 of the finch tribe can be successfully crossed 
 with the canary : 
 
 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. 
 
 The American goldfinch, or yellow bird, as 
 he is commonly called, is so named from its re- 
 semblance to the English goldfinch in its habits 
 and natural food. It is found all over the Ameri- 
 can continent. As summer approaches, the 
 males cast oflf their olive-covered winter suits 
 
HYBRIDS, OR '* MUI^ES." 61 
 
 and appear in their golden livery — the front of 
 the head, wings, and tail being of a deep black. 
 They may often be seen in flocks, flitting from 
 reed to reed, twittering all the time, and opening 
 and closing its wings in the same manner as the 
 wild canary. They have a varied, soft, and 
 cheerful song. 
 
 In confinement the yellow bird soon becomes 
 familiar and reconciled to its surroundings. In 
 addition to the regular seed of the canary they 
 should have also some seed of the thistle, lettuce, 
 hemp, and sunflower ; not necessarily all of these 
 seed, but those which can be procured. 
 
 They are very fond of bathing and picking up 
 small particles of sand and gravel, with which 
 they should always be well supplied. It is some- 
 what diflicult to secure a hybrid from this bird 
 and the canary. 
 
 THE EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH. 
 
 This is a delightful cage bird, alike from the 
 beauty of its plumage, its docility, its melodious 
 song, its incessant activity, and its ability to 
 repeat airs and the songs of other birds. 
 
 It is about five and a half inches long, of 
 
62 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 which the tail is two inches. The beak is pointed 
 and very shghtly bent, with a horn-colored tip; 
 the feet are brownish. The front of the head is 
 of a bright scarlet red ; a broad margin of similar 
 color surrounds the base of the beak; on the 
 top of the neck there is a white spot ; the cheeks 
 and front of the neck are white ; the back of the 
 neck and back are of a beautiful brown; the 
 longer feathers are black; both sides of the 
 breast and flanks are of a bright brown; the 
 middle of the breast, belly and vent are whitish, 
 with some feathers brownish. The tail is slightly 
 forked and black. 
 
 They must have, in addition to the food gen- 
 erally given to a breeding canary, some hemp 
 and poppy seed, and green foods, as cabbage, 
 lettuce and water-cress, as it is a voracious eater. 
 It is subject to epilepsy and sore eyes. In old 
 age and confinement they lose the brilliant 
 colors of their plumage and generally become 
 blind. 
 
 As the females of the European goldfinch are 
 often sold for males by unscrupulous dealers on 
 account of their close resemblance to the males, 
 they may be distinguished by their being a little 
 
HYBRIDS, OR "MULES." 63 
 
 smaller, not so broadly and beautifully red about 
 the beak; the chin brownish; the cheeks inter- 
 mixed with bright brown; the small coverts of 
 the wings brown ; and the back of a deeper dark- 
 brown than the males. 
 
 The males of this cross are generally of most 
 striking plumage and superior songsters. 
 
 THE LINNET. 
 
 The linnet excels most other song birds in its 
 power of beautifully and purely imitating airs 
 and melodies which are played to it. Its natural 
 song consists of many connected strophies, and 
 It is admired for what is called its ''crowing," 
 from its resemblance to the crowing of a cock. 
 It will also learn the songs of all the birds in the 
 room with it. 
 
 The length of the linnet is somewhat more 
 than five inches, of which the tail measures 
 about two and one-half inches. The beak is 
 dusky-blue in summer and grayish-white in win- 
 ter, with the point brown. The feet are black. 
 
 A male linnet less than three years old in the 
 spring has a blood-red forehead, the rest of the 
 head ash-colored, with the top spotted with 
 
64 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 black ; the feathers of the back are chestnut, with 
 the sides Hghter ; the sides of the breast are 
 blood-red; the sides of the belly are pale rust- 
 color; and the under part of the body reddish- 
 v/hite. The tail is black and forked, the four 
 outer feathers having a broad white border, the 
 two middle feathers being narrower and reddish- 
 white. 
 
 After moulting in autumn little red is to be 
 seen on the forehead, and males one year old 
 have no red on the head, more black, pale-red 
 on the breast, and the back rust-colored. These 
 birds are known as gray linnets. 
 
 There are other clouded varieties of linnets, 
 produced by the seasons and old age. Birds 
 brought up in the house never acquire the fine 
 red on the forehead and breast, but remain gray 
 like the males of one year old; on the other 
 hand, old birds brought into the house lose their 
 beautiful colors at the first moulting, and appear 
 as gray linnets. 
 
 The progeny of this cross resemble an 
 ordinary green or gray canary, but the males are 
 superb songsters and very imitative, quickly 
 acquiring the song of any bird within hearing. 
 
HYBRIDS, OR "MULES." ^5 
 
 THE BULLFINCH, 
 
 The bullfinch is one of the greatest favorites 
 of the finch species. It is especially desirable for 
 its winsome ways and its remarkable tameness. 
 The top of its head, wings and tail are of a 
 glossy black ; the beak is thick and black ; the 
 back bluish gray ; the breast red. Its song is a 
 soft, low whistle/ interspersed with other gut- 
 tural sounds. It can be taught to pipe short 
 tunes, and will also perform various amusing 
 tricks. It is capable of great attachment for its 
 owner, and will often mope and sulk if another 
 person attempts to become familiar with it. 
 Hybrids from this cross are very hard to rear, 
 but are of beautiful plumage and more imitative 
 that the bullfinch proper. 
 
 THE GREENFINCH. 
 
 The greenfinch is nearly the same size and 
 shape as the canary, and is also known as the 
 green linnet. It is of yellowish green plumage, 
 somewhat gray on the back, and inclined to be 
 lighter beneath. It is a sprightly and robust 
 bird, but its song is only ordinary, and it is of a 
 somewhat combative disposition. 
 S 
 
66 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 THE INDIGO BIRD. 
 
 This bird is a beautiful American songster, 
 about the size of the canary. The top of its 
 head is pure violet, shaded to deep indigo blue 
 on the back, with a green tinge on the lower part 
 of the body. The tail is brown, and the beak 
 and legs lead-colored. Its song somewhat re- 
 sembles that of the linnet. Besides the regular 
 food of the canary, a little millet and hemp seed 
 should be given it occasionally, and they also 
 are fond of flies and spiders. 
 
 THE CHAFFINCH. 
 
 The chaffinch, also called the "shell-apple" 
 and "beech-finch," has a sharp, thrilling song, 
 which varies in different varieties of the same 
 species, according to the different localities from 
 which the bird has been captured, those having 
 the "double trill of the Hartz" being considered 
 the most desirable. 
 
 The head is bluish-gray ; back brown ; wings 
 black. The breast is pinkish-red, with the belly 
 inclining to white, and it has bright yellow circles 
 around the eyes. In addition to the regular diet 
 
HYBRIDS, OR "MUI^ES." 67 
 
 of the canary they should have green food, ant's 
 eggs, and mealworms occasionally. 
 
 THE SISKIN. • 
 
 The siskin is sometimes called the "black- 
 headed finch," "gold-wing" and "barley-bird." 
 It sings continually in a low, sweet twitter, and 
 is a great mimic. It has a pretty mixture of 
 black, green and yellow in its plumage, and is 
 shorter and more thick-set than the goldfinch, 
 and is very active and amusing in a cage — always 
 climbing about, swinging by one leg with its head 
 downward, and assuming all kinds of postures. 
 It is of a somewhat greedy disposition, and is 
 fond of throwing water over its feathers. The 
 offspring of this bird and the canary are gen- 
 erally of beautiful plumage and good songsters. 
 
 THE NONPAREIL. 
 
 This bird is called the "painted finch," or 
 "painted bunting," and by some the "Pope," on 
 account of his beautiful violet hood. He has a 
 violet hood and neck; a red circle around the 
 eyes ; the beak and feet are brown ; the upper 
 
68 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 part of the back yellowish green ; the lower part 
 of the back, and the throat, chest and whole 
 under part of the body, as well as the upper tail 
 coverts, of a bright red; the wing coverts are 
 green ; the quills are reddish-brown, tinged with 
 green ; the tail is reddish-brown. 
 
 It has an agreeable, low, soft song. It is 
 subject to epileptic fits, but is generally brought 
 around by being plunged head-downward into 
 cold water two or three times. In addition to 
 the regular food of the canary, it is exceedingly 
 fond of flies and spiders. 
 
 THE HAWFINCH. 
 
 The hawfinch is a long and stoutly-built bird, 
 of a drab-color on the upper parts and inclined 
 to gray underneath. Most of the pinion and tail- 
 feathers are black, having a large white spot on 
 the inner vein. 
 
 It has but an ordinary song. In addition to 
 the diet of the canary, it should have mullet, 
 cherries and peas. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Red Mites. 
 
 h\ r\ HE most persistent enemy of the canary is 
 ^ the "red mite." It is a small brown or 
 red insect, varying in size from the point to the 
 head of a pin or the dot over the letter "i." In 
 its habits it may be likened to the household 
 pest — the bed-bug. Like the latter, it works 
 principally in the dark, and dreads the bright 
 light and the sunshine. Placing a bird for a few 
 hours each day, for several successive days, in 
 the sun, will often, with the aid of a bath, entirely 
 free it from these vermin and drive them away. 
 If your bird is restless, especially at night; 
 if it is continually picking among the roots of its 
 feathers, loses its appetite, is fretful and vicious, 
 and the first feathers on the tips of its wings 
 drop out, look out for the ''red mite." In order 
 to ascertain if these insects be present, a piece 
 of white flannel or soft white cloth may be laid 
 
 (69) 
 
70 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 upon the top of the cage during the night, and 
 should these insects be present, some of them 
 will be found clinging to the cloth in the morn- 
 ing. Their presence in a breeding cage may be 
 detected, if the cage has a wooden back, by 
 numerous little silver-colored specks around the 
 upper corners. 
 
 To free a bird of its diminutive but numerous 
 enemy, it should be taken from the infested 
 cage; a piece an inch long from the finger of a 
 glove, open at both ends, slipped over its head 
 to cover its eyes and nostrils, and insect powder 
 rubbed into its feathers, especially under the 
 wings and on the abdomen ; or the powder may 
 be applied with an ordinary blower ; two persons 
 being necessary to do this in order to not injure 
 the bird. 
 
 The bird should now be placed in an extra 
 cage — which every bird keeper should have for 
 an emergency; a small, clean wooden cage in 
 which a foreign bird is imported will answer — 
 and be hung in the bright light or sunshine. This 
 treatment should be given every bird purchased 
 from a bird dealer if it is to be soon mated, as a 
 
RED MITES. 71 
 
 precautionary measure; it will not injure the 
 bird, although it may appear stupid for a short 
 time. 
 
 The bird having been attended to, the cage, 
 if a metal one, and not new, if it is infested with 
 insects, should be placed in an ordinary wash 
 tub, in a strong solution of lye water, and 
 scrubbed thoroughly inside and out, until every 
 joint and crevice has been saturated and 
 cleansed; it should then be rinsed thoroughly 
 and wiped perfectly dry. 
 
 Another effective remedy is to use a small 
 paint brush and a strong solution of carbolic 
 acid— about one part of acid to ten parts of 
 water — painting the cage thoroughly inside and 
 out with this solution, going over the work two 
 or three times. If the cage be a breeding cage 
 of wire-and-wood, after it has become thor- 
 oughly dry it should be blown with insect pow- 
 der, not missing a crevice or joint. 
 
 The wood-and-wire breeding cage may bei 
 cleaned also by pouring gasoline intO' and upon 
 every joint and then painting the surface with 
 the same fluid, turning the cage two or three 
 
72 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 times. If intended to be used for breeding pur- 
 poses, it should also be blown with insect pow- 
 der. The rust on the wires of a cage is not in- 
 juriousj but the green rust upon the wires of a 
 brass cage, if corroded, is poisonous. 
 
K 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Diseases and Their Remedies. 
 
 IKE animals, birds that are kept in confine- 
 ment are liable to more maladies than 
 those which have their liberty, some ornitholo- 
 gists claiming that birds in their natural state 
 are never ill. 
 
 The maladies to which cage birds are subject 
 are considerably increased by their having all 
 kinds of delicacies, such as cake, candy, sugar, 
 pastry, etc., which spoils a bird's stomach and 
 produces a slow consumption. 
 
 Inferior seed is a cause of many diseases to 
 which a canary is subject; but colds are another 
 cause. A bird is often seen placed in an open 
 window, or hung outside in a chilly wind, which 
 soon destroys its song and health. 
 
 Asthma — Birds attacked with this disease 
 have their breath short, often open their beaks 
 
 (73) 
 
74 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 as if to gasp for more air, and when frightened 
 keep them open for a long time. The cause of 
 this disease is that their food is probably too 
 dry and heating, possibly composed largely ot 
 hemp seed, and the bird being kept in a room 
 which is too hot and too cold by turns. As a 
 remedy they should have only scalded rape seed, 
 bread soaked in water and then pressed; also 
 bread placed in boiling milk and well pressed; 
 also lettuce, endive^ or water-cress and celery. 
 Keep in pure air, out of draughts, and the song 
 and health often returns after the autumnal 
 moult. 
 
 Bloating — The skin of the bird is filled with 
 air and stretched like a drum. Pierce the skin 
 with a needle and the air will escape. 
 
 Broken Legs — Remove all the perches in 
 the cage, place clean gravel in it to the depth of 
 half an inch, and see that the bird can get its 
 food and water without effort ; do not disturb it 
 more than necessary. 
 
 Constipation — The bird will be noticed 
 making unsuccessful efforts to evacuate. Give 
 it plenty of the green food which may be in 
 
DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 75 
 
 season, such as celery, water-cress, chickweed, 
 lettuce, apple, or salad. 
 
 Consumption — The bird ceases to sing, be- 
 comes thin, and loses its appetite; if taken in 
 the hand, it is very light. It will, in nearly every 
 instance, die in spite of all efforts made to save it. 
 
 Diarrhoea — The evacuations of the bird be- 
 come frequent and watery, causing it to become 
 very weak in a short time. See that the bird has 
 clean sand, give it spring water to drink, if 
 obtainable, or place a rusty nail in the drinking 
 water; change its regular food entirely, giving 
 it hard-boiled egg, minced fine and sprinkled 
 with red pepper, together with a teaspoonful of 
 crushed hemp seed. 
 
 Egg-bound Hen — Some young females are 
 unable to eject the first egg and sit weak and 
 puffy on the perch or bottom of the cage. Take 
 the bird in the hand very carefully in order to 
 not break the egg, and insert a common quill 
 brush, dipped in castor oil, into the vent, and 
 place a drop or two into the bird's beak. An- 
 other remedy is to place a piece of bacon-rind in 
 
76 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 the cage, fastened with a piece of wire thread ; if 
 she eats this she will be able to pass the egg 
 easily. 
 
 Epilepsy — This is caused by too great a 
 quantity of rich food and the want of exercise, 
 ■\vhereby too much thick blood is produced. The 
 bird should not be frightened or alarmed in any 
 manner. If it appears to be hot and feverish, 
 plunge it frequently into cold water, and pare 
 one of its nails sufficiently close to start blood, 
 a drop being sufficient to relieve it. 
 
 Functional Derangement — This disease 
 occurs to a mated hen. She will go through all 
 the preliminaries of laying, but will be unable 
 to do so, the constituent elements which form 
 the perfect egg refusing to amalgamate. The 
 lower part of the abdomen will protrude and 
 appear red and swollen. If a valuable hen, let 
 down the partition, separating the birds. After 
 a few days, if the swelling has subsided, remove 
 the hen out of sight and hearing of the male and 
 try her again later in the season. 
 
 Loss OF Voice — Should the male, after 
 moulting or through exposure, lose his voice, he 
 
DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 77 
 
 must be fed on thoroughly baked stale roll or 
 bread, dipped in boiled milk until thoroughly 
 saturated; then press out and mix with it a pro- 
 portion of two-thirds of coarse barley or wheat 
 flour, freed from the husk or bran; also place 
 a piece of the rind of bacon in the cage, securely 
 fastened. 
 
 Long Claws or Beaks— It sometimes hap- 
 pens that the perches of a cage are so small that 
 the claws of a bird curl over from the opposite 
 side and enter the flesh, or the beak becomes 
 curved. Hold the bird up to the light and clip 
 ofif the overgrown portion with a pair of sharp 
 scissors. The "red ray" in beak or claws will 
 indicate how far it is safe to clip. 
 
 Moulting — This occurrence, though natu- 
 ral, is very weakening to a canary. Its cage 
 should be hung near a window or placed in the 
 sun for a short time daily. Give it hard-boiled 
 Qgg in addition to its regular seed, place a rusty 
 nail in its drinking water, and hang the cage in 
 a warm place. 
 
 Obstruction of the Oil Gland — Canaries 
 are sometimes troubled by hardness and ob- 
 
 L.cfC. 
 
78 THE DOMESTIC SONG BIRD. 
 
 struction of the oil gland above the tail, at which 
 they are continually pecking; this should be 
 anointed with a little fresh butter or vaseline, 
 and if very bad, pierced with a fine needle before 
 applying it. 
 
 Clogged or Sore Feet — This affection is 
 only found in a bird which does not bathe. The 
 perches should all be removed from its cage and 
 the bottom filled with water. This should be 
 repeated daily until the bird acquires the habit 
 of bathing. If the feet are sore the dirt must 
 be removed with the aid of warm water and then 
 anointed with butter or vaseline. 
 
 Pairing Fever — Birds are sometimes at- 
 tacked with "pairing fever" in the spring, or at 
 the time when the inclination to mate is greatest. 
 They sometimes cease to sing, become sorrowful 
 and thin, and die. If a hen is within hearing of 
 a male she should be removed. Place the 
 affected bird near a window that it may have its 
 attention diverted, and it will soon resume its 
 liveliness and song. 
 
 Rupture — This malady occurs generally in 
 voung birds. The bird has a lean, blown-up 
 
DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 79 
 
 body, full of small red veins, and the intestines 
 seem to have fallen to the lower part of the body 
 and become entangled. The rupture is some- 
 times cured by a scant and simple diet, but the 
 case is generally hopeless. 
 
 Ulcers — Small ulcers sometimes form near 
 the eyes or nostrils of a canary which is the 
 progeny of two crested parents. Touch these 
 ulcers twice a day with a small quill brush dipped 
 m witch hazel or a solution of glycerin, alcohol 
 and rose water — five cents' worth of each — 
 which is also a sovereign remedy for chapped 
 hands and face or lips. Feed the bird plenty of 
 water-cress or celery. 
 
 Vertigo — This is caused by a bird turning 
 its head and neck so far round that they fall off 
 their perch. Place a cover over the top of the 
 cage, which will prevent the bird from looking 
 up, for it is this habit which causes giddiness. 
 
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