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IDEAL HOME LIFE |
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thickest on the side nearest the light, and it may be allowed to develop on that side as it will serve to screen the strong light somewhat from the animals.
10* v?* fc5*
CANARIES *
By ALEXANDER WETMORE
A
MONG the birds kept for household pets none is so common or so well known as the canary. So simple are its requirements in the way of food and care that it needs little attention, and because of its pleasing songs and interesting habits it is a universal favorite. Readily adaptable to cage life, canaries display little of the fear shown by wild birds in captivity, and the ease with which they may be induced to nest and rear young adds to their popularity.
History
The actual origin of the canary as a cage bird is as obscure as is the early history of other domesticated animals. It seems probable that captive canaries were first secured from the Canary Islands, a group with which they have long been popularly associated. There are in the Old World, however, two closely allied forms from which the domesticated canary may have come. One of these, the bird now recognized as the "wild canary" is found in the Canary Islands (with the exception of the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote), Madeira, and the Azores. The other form, the serin finch, ranges through southern Europe and northern Africa, extending eastward into Palestine and Asia Minor. In a wild state these two forms are very similar in color and to a novice are hardly distinguishable.
If, as is supposed, the original supply of canaries came from the Canary Islands, it may be considered doubtful that
* Used by permission of the United States Biological Survey. |
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