THE ART OF TAMING BIRDS.  
Although birds are naturally of a timid disposition, very easily alarmed, and from their delicate structure unable to endure any but the most gentle handling, they may be made very tame and become quite attached to their trainer. We propose to tell our readers how to tame their birds, but to make these instructions successful they must be carried out with the greatest gentleness and patience. The utmost pains should be observed not to frighten the bird, as a single fright may render him so shy as to defeat all your efforts to gain his confidence. The following plan is the simplest and most uniformly successful that we have seen tried: The trainer opens the door of the cage and teases the bird gently with a soft feather. This he does till the bird pecks at the feather, then at his finger, and at last comes out of the cage and perches upon his hand. He then smooths his feathers down, caresses it, and offers it some favorite article of food, which it soon learns to take from his hand. He then begins to accustom the bird to a particular call or whistle; carries it upon his hand or shoulder from room to room, in which all the windows are carefully closed, lets it fly and calls it back. As soon as the bird becomes obedient to the call in the presence of other persons and animals, the same experiment is cautiously repeated in the open air, till at last it is rewarded with complete success. This process is well suited for nearly all young cage birds, especially linnets, bullfinches, and canaries, but it is dangerous to take these tame birds into the open air during pairing time, as they are liable to be enticed by the cries of wild birds.
Birds that are caught in winter often take to the cage more kindly than would be expected, but after their capture some days should be allowed them to become accustomed to their new situation, before expecting them to respond to your kindness. Newly caught birds should be put into a quiet place, shaded with a green woolen cover, so that the innate may not see persons moving about the room, and it should be supplied with abundance of whatever is supposed to be its favorite food. Hemp seed generally fulfills this requirement. It is an immense advantage to have a large cage made like the “trap” or store cages in which canaries are generally sold. The wooden bars are less liable to hurt new comers than those made of wire.
188Whatever the cage, the food and the shading are essential points; and the bird will often become familiar with his mistress’ voice before the cover is removed, and he able to see her. After the first day or two do not leave the seed tin always in the cage, but take it away after each meal for a little while, taking the opportunity of having a talk with the bird when you give it back, and gradually bring the cage a little nearer to you as it gets more tame. The water, of course, is always in the cage, and this must not be understood to imply a starving system, the only object in taking away the seed is to obtain the chance to talk with him and make friends when you bring it back. A single bird in a cage tames more quickly than when there are two or three.
A New York paper, speaking about the importation of canary birds from Germany, says the following sight was seen in Florence, Italy, in 1861, by a lady and gentleman belonging in New York. In walking in the principal street they overtook a man with a long whip in his hand, which he was moving from one side to the other in what they thought a strange manner. When they came up with him they found he was driving ............