GERMAN TRAINS CANARIES TO SING 'LIKE NIGHTINGALES'
Bremerhaven, Germany (JFK+50) On August 21, 1924, the Associated Press reports that August Mumme of Bremerhaven uses phonograph records "to teach canary* birds to sing like nightingales**."
When they turn six to eight weeks old, the birdies are put into cages near real nightingales so that when the canaries begin to sing, they "quite naturally," sound like what they have always heard.
AP notes that a canary so-trained is five times more valuable than your standard canary.
*canary is a domesticated form of the wild canary, a small song bird of the finch family originating in the Macaronesian Islands including the Canary Islands.
**nightingale is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful & beautiful song.
JFK+50 NOTE
Bremerhaven is a port city on Germany's North Sea coast, home of the German Maritime Museum & the German Emigration Center.
SOURCE
"Phonograph Makes Canary Birds Sing Like Nightingales," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 21, 1924, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
Nightingale
