John H. Robinson

The canary is the only common cage bird. There are about fifty kinds of birds that make desirable pets, but very few of them will breed in small cages, and many will not breed in confinement even when kept in large aviaries. In the United States the number of kinds of cage birds is restricted by state laws which prohibit keeping native song birds in captivity. Such laws are necessary to preserve the birds. Before these laws were passed, great numbers of song birds were trapped every year to send to Europe, where the keeping of cage birds as pets is more popular than in America. Song birds from other parts of the world may be kept in this country, but most of them are so scarce and expensive that few people would buy them even if the canary were not a more satisfactory pet.

Description. The common domestic canary is a small bird, about five inches in length, very lively and sprightly in manner, and in color yellow or a greenish gray and yellow. The male and female are so much alike that the sex cannot be positively determined by the appearance. Although it often happens that the male is more slender in form and brighter in color, the voice is a better index of sex and, in mature birds of good singing stock, is very reliable. The male is the singer. The female also has a singing voice, but it is so inferior in quality to that of the male that few people care for it.

Origin. The domestic canary belongs to the finch family and is found wild in the Canary Islands (from which it takes its name) and in a number of other islands in that part of the world. The color of the wild birds is described, by some who have seen them, as greenish-gray, changing to a greenish-yellow on the breast and under parts. Other observers describe the wild birds of some localities as brownish.

Fig. 220. Tricolor Canary[24]

[24] The illustrations in this chapter are from "Our Domestic Animals," by Charles W. Burkett.

The canary was introduced into Europe about four hundred years ago. As the story goes, a ship with a cargo from the Canary Islands, carrying several thousand canaries, which the traders thought might be sold in Europe, was wrecked off the coast of Italy early in the sixteenth century. Before the sailors left the ship, they opened the cages containing the canaries. The birds escaped to the Island of Elba and there became established in the wild state. From this colony of canaries birds were captured and distributed to all parts of Europe and America, their superior song powers and adaptability to domestication making them popular wherever they became known.

Fig. 221. Norwich Canary with hood

The wild bird known in America as the wild canary is the American Goldfinch. It belongs to the same family as the canary but is of a different species. It is of no value as a singer.

Fig. 222. Yorkshire Canary

Improvement in domestication. Nearly all the varieties of the canary were developed before the eighteenth century. The German canary fanciers turned their attention to developing the song of the bird, the Belgian and British fanciers to making and perfecting shape and color varieties. In Germany the celebrated Harz Mountain Canaries were produced. These are simply common canaries carefully bred and trained for singing. But their excellence as singers is not due to breeding and training alone; the climate of the Harz Mountain region seems to be peculiarly suited to the development of canaries with beautiful voices. The finest Harz Mountain Canaries are produced at St. Andreasberg, a health resort noted for its pure and bracing air. The St. Andreasberg Roller is a canary trained to sing with a peculiar rolling note.

Among fancy types of canaries the most interesting are the Norwich Canary, which is larger than the singing canaries and has reddish-yellow plumage; the Manchester Coppy, a yellow canary almost as large as a small pigeon; the Lizard Canaries (Silver and Golden), which have spangled markings on the back; the London Fancy Canary, which has an orange body with black wings and tail; and the Belgian Canary, a malformed type in which the head appears to grow out of the breast instead of being carried above the shoulders.

Fig. 223. Belgian Canary

Place in domestication. Most people who have canaries keep them for pets, and have only a few. In perhaps the greater number of cases a single bird—a singer—satisfies the canary lover. A few of those who keep canaries as pets also breed them for sale. Occasionally a canary fancier devotes a room in his house entirely to his birds and, when breeding on such a scale, has a great many to sell. The commercial side of canary breeding, however, is usually subordinate, except in the Harz Mountain district, where the breeding and training of singing canaries is a very important cottage industry. Canaries from this district are sold all over the civilized world.

Fig. 224. English Flatheaded Canary

Management of Canaries

Cages. The common wire bird cages used for one or two canaries are so well known that no description of them is necessary. For larger numbers larger cages must be provided. Large cages cannot always be obtained at stores which sell the small ones, but they may be obtained from bird stores in the large cities, or made to order by a local mechanic. Indeed, any clever boy who has learned to use tools can make one at very little cost. While the small cages are usually made all of metal, the large ones are commonly made with wooden frames. A small cage has a removable bottom. A large cage must have two bottoms—the outer one fixed, the inner one in the form of a movable drawer. A metal drawer is easier to keep clean than a wooden one.

Position of the cage. The cage in an ordinary room should be hung where its occupants will be comfortable and safe. The greatest foe of the domestic canary is the house cat. Some cats can be trained to let canaries alone, but very few can be trusted to make no attempt to get a canary when left alone in a room with it. When canaries and cats are kept in the same house, the cage should hang in a place from which cats can be excluded when they cannot be watched. The comfort of the bird will often require that the position of the cage be changed once or oftener during the day, according to the season or to some particular condition. Thus, a sunny window may be very pleasant at some times and too warm at others, or a bird may tire of being constantly in the same place. The bird keeper has to learn to know, by observing the actions of birds, when they are comfortable and contented, and must use judgment in placing the cage to suit them.

Feeding. Canaries live mostly on ripe seeds, but they are also very fond of the leaves, flowers, and green seeds of many common plants. Being such small birds, they eat only small seeds. The seeds most used as food for canaries are hempseed, flaxseed, rapeseed, and canary seed, which is the seed of the canary grass, a plant indigenous to the Canary Islands. These are often sold mixed under the trade name of "birdseed." Many canary fanciers think that it is better to feed the seeds separately, or to make the mixtures themselves, so that they can know just what the birds eat, and can judge whether any trouble which may arise is due to a wrong diet. Rapeseed and canary seed are considered the best and safest feed for canaries. They may be mixed in equal parts and kept before the birds at all times. Canaries like hempseed better than anything else, but it is so rich that, if fed heavily, it is injurious. When a mixture of seeds containing hempseed is placed in the feed cup, canaries will pick out and scatter and waste the other seeds, to get the hempseed. For this reason it is often left out of the mixture and given occasionally, a few grains at a time.

Canaries are very fond of lettuce, chickweed, and plantain. They also like the green seeds of many grasses. These things may be given to them by fastening the leaves or stalks between the wires of the cage where the birds can reach them easily. A piece of cuttlefish bone should be placed where the birds can eat some whenever they want it. Cuttle bone furnishes them with salt and lime.

Care. Canaries should have regular attention. Aside from having the position of the cage changed when necessary, they usually require attention only once a day. This should be at a regular hour, preferably in the morning. The cage should be placed on a table or stand, and the bottom removed, that it may be thoroughly cleaned. The best way is to wash it. While the bottom of the cage is being cleaned the cage with the bird in it rests upon the table. This is the best time to give the bird its bath. A shallow pan or dish containing about an inch of water is placed on the table under the bottomless cage. Some birds splash so vigorously that the bath must be given in a room containing nothing that would be damaged by the drops of water which they scatter. Some seem to understand that the harder they splash the more trouble they make, and to take delight in wetting everything about them.

When the bird has had its bath, the cage should be wiped dry, the bottom replaced, the drinking cup rinsed and refilled, and the seed cup filled. If a bird is very tame and can be easily caught, it may be let out of the cage for its bath and for a little exercise. Many canaries will return voluntarily to their cages after bathing and flying around the room a few times. Canary fanciers frequently allow their birds the freedom of the room for hours at a time. Whenever this is done, special care must be taken that no unexpected opening of a door allows the bird to escape from the room. Neglect of this point often leads to the loss of a valued bird.

Breeding. The breeding season for canaries is from February until May or June. The cage for a breeding pair should be a little larger than that used for a single bird, and should be firmly attached to the wall instead of hanging where it can swing. The nest is usually a small wire basket. For nest material cotton batting and cow's hair or deer's hair are used. Deer's hair may be obtained at bird stores. These materials are placed in the cage and the birds use what they want. The hen lays from four to six eggs. The period of incubation is two weeks. During the breeding season the birds should be fed, in addition to the usual supply of seed, a little grated hard-boiled egg with cracker or bread crumbs. They also need a supply of fine oyster shells. By the time the young are three weeks old they are able to leave the nest and to feed themselves. They should then be removed to a separate cage.