CANARY
			Phylum: Class: Order: Family: Species: Chordata Aves Passeriformes Fringillidae Serinus canaria

The beautiful little canary is a member of the finch family, native to the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. It was imported into Europe in the 16th century and has since been bred to produce a number of colored varieties, from yellow, through ora nge, to those streaked with brown or black. Canaries live in bushes and clumps of trees, readily coming into gardens.

Very popular as pet birds, canaries are noted for their song. In the wild, their main food is small seeds but they also eat leaf and fruit buds.

In captivity, these birds tend to be on the fragile side. Heavy drafts or unsanitary conditions can easily kill them.

Interestingly, many, many years ago, coal miners and cave workers used canaries to test underground work areas for toxic levels of gases, which were virtually odorless to humans. Due to the sensitivity of the canary's life system, if the frail bird survi ved 24 hours in the cave or mine, the air was safe for humans to breathe. While this was a very cruel method of testing the air, it was, at that time, the only means available. Hence, the expression "canary in a coal mine" arose from this unfortunate pr actice.