Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 2).djvu/185



The canary has much of the nightingale's and skylark's song. In freedom each flock has its own song. In captivity the quality varies largely, some uttering soft and agreeable notes, and others indulging in a succession of noisy bursts. Those are most valued that introduce most passages from the song of the nightingale. It should be borne in mind that no caged canary sings a natural note—that is, the habitual strain of the wild race. In the illustration given can be traced a similarity of method in the opening notes to that of the nightingale. A canary can, however, be taught to imitate the notes of almost any bird, or to pipe, like a trained bullfinch, a bar or two of a popular air, and even to speak a few words, though this is very rare in a wild state. The colour of a canary, like its song, is quite different from that which it acquires in captivity, being a kind of dappled olive-green; but the bird-fanciers, by careful selection, are able to produce canaries of almost every tint between black, green, and yellow.

The linnet’s song is lively and varied, and no bird is so easily tamed. When confined with other birds it readily learns their song. In the winter linnets may be seen congregating towards the close of a fine winter evening, pluming themselves in the last rays of the sun, chirruping the commencement of their vesper song; and then bursting simultaneously into one general chorus, then again resuming their single strains, and once more joining in chorus. In the caged linnet the strain is rapid and varied; often a prolonged extemporising most difficult to represent accurately.