Originally appeared in the December 1938 issue of the National Geographic Magazine
This Web version COPYRIGHT 2004
|
HUMAN pleasure in song, sprightly
movement, and color – these are the
basic reasons for the hundreds of
thousands of small cage birds that are found
in homes and aviaries throughout the world.
The canary, most universally loved of these songsters, has been transported from its place of origin in the Canary Islands to every country in the world, and the vast number now found in captivity must certainly exceed those hving in the original wild state, proof of the success of their domestication.
A MID-PACIFIC ISLE OF SONG Now the only wild colony of canaries that I know of on earth outside of their native islands is found on one of the isles of the Midway group of the Hawaiian chain. Midway has recently become well known as a stop on the route of the transpacific Clipper planes. Landing at Midway from a naval mine sweeper on an April afternoon in 1923, I followed a tree-lined walk from a little wharf to the buildings of the cable station. To my delight I found a pleasant grass-grown plaza backed by a windbreak of casuarina trees and ornamented with shrubs and flowers. Here was a man-made oasis of green built on an island of barren sand with fertile earth brought out as ships' ballast from Honolulu. Earth, grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers – even the weeds in the vegetable garden – were introductions, and with them had come other things. As I looked about I saw many small yellow birds flying here and there canaries living wild! But not until I heard their chorus of song at dawn the following morning did I fully appreciate that here was a true colony of these birds living in a state of nature. Dozens of them flew about in the shrubbery and over the lawns, and their sweet voices came from every side. All are believed to be the offspring of one or more pairs of yellow canaries released on the island by Mr. D. Morrison of the cable company in 1909. As they moved about, they appeared small and weak in comparison with the robust Laysan finches brought here from Laysan Island, but they seemed thoroughly established and had no enemies. All that I saw were clear yellow in color.
CANARIES TAKE SINGING LESSONS The true roller canary is a bird of small size that is predominantly green or mixed in color, varying from this to clear yellow. The song is a series of soft trills, so sweet and pleasing in tone as to be beyond description. Outstanding singers are highly prized and command good prices. Young male roller canaries are caged separately as soon as they have completed the first molt, and are kept in a quiet room in subdued light. An adult male of perfect song is kept with them and sings steadily. With his constant example the young ones practice their notes. |
|
|
BAD SINGERS "GET THE GONG"
The birds are under close observation,
and should one develop harsh notes or undesirablc calls, he is removed immediately
so that he may not be copied by his imitative companions. Frequently a bird organ,
arranged to play soft rolling trills indefinitely, is used in this training.
Under such conditions the young rollers develop their notes, called technically "tours," the different trills being characterized as bell rolls, water rolls, and so on, until finally the finished songster is produced. St. Andreasberg, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, has long been the center for breeding roller canaries, though now they are produced in other countries, too
The ordinary roller canary has a repertoire of from five to ten of the various trills recognized by the expert. A larger number is unusual.
Although roller canaries are thus carefully trained in the finer points of their profession, the sweet song of this variety is inherited. That fact has been proved by experiments in which young birds were reared in sound-proof cages completely isolated from the songs of other birds. In time the males developed the type of song of the roller canary.
"COLOR FEEDING"
TURNS CANARIES
ORANGE
About seventy years
ago lovers of canaries
were astonished to see
in the hands of a few
breeders birds of a
beautiful deep-orange
color. They were
products of a process
called "color feeding."
For years those who
had this secret guarded it carefully, but
finally it became
known that the intensified color was the
result of adding red
pepper to the diet during the period of molt.
Color feeding is simple. Birds of good natural hue are selected and, at the very beginning of the molt, in addition to the regular diet of seed and greens, they are given a food prepared by mixing one part of finely ground sweet red pepper to two parts of egg food (made from equal parts of hard-boiled egg, chopped fine or grated, and dry bread crumbs, unsalted cracker crumbs, or ground zwieback). Some fanciers add to this a drop or two of olive oil and a little sugar.
A teaspoonful of the color food is fed each day through the entire period of molt until all the body feathers are fully grown, and then it is gradually discontinued. Care is taken to feed only freshly prepared food in which the egg is not stale.
As the new feathers come in, they are noticeably deeper and richer in color than the old ones. The enhanced color is due to an element taken from the pepper and remains until the next change of feathers.
Most birds eat the color food greedily and those that do not seem to care for it at first are usually quick to acquire a taste for it if the ordinary food supply is cut down for a day or two.
