The price of a canary depends upon its ap to the ideal bird of its breed. but the .
females arc usually the cheaper. From $1 to $75 is the range of value for the great majority of canaries, hut exceptional individuals may bring as high as $150. The highest prices are paid for the Saint Andreasberg campaninis. Canaries are often crossed. by fanciers, with other finches, and the hybrids thus produced are sometimes valuable as cage-birds, either for ap pearance or peetffiar qualities of song.
These hybrids are ealled 'mules,' and are usu ally the result of mating other cock birds with lien canaries. on account of the difficulty of persuading female linnets, goldfinches, ere.. to sit on their eggs in eaptivity.
Canaries are the eash-st of cage-birds to care for. as almost the only essentials are cleanliness, food, and water. The cag• and especially the food and water vessels sluaild be kept s•rupti lously clean. bath should be provided at least once a week, and occasional freedom from the cage in a closed room is a real benefit to the bird. Care should be taken not to expose the
bird to cold draughts, hence it is usually unwise to hang the rage near windows during wintry weather. The principal articles of food should be canary-graSA seed, hemp-seed, and rapc, but green leaves, such as chickweed, arc necessary to maintain perfect health. Sugar is also great ly enjoyed by canaries, and is a proper food in small quantities: but acids, such :Is fresh apple, should be avoided. Lime is essential to the bird's welfare, and is best provided in the form of cuttle-fish bone. The nails are apt to grow so long, in canaries kept in small cages, that they should be cut occasionally to prevent them from becoming troublesome to the bird. For further information in reference to the (-are of canaries and their breeding, consult : Wallave, The Canary Book (London. 18i13) holden, Canaries and Cage-birds (New York. 1333), and Belts, The Pleasurable Art of Breeding Ptt t'aitaries (London. IS97). See CAGE-Bums, and Plate of CANARIES.