Caveat Emptor

"A Middleboro woman, who bought a canary at the recent Brockton fair, had a shock the other day after her new acquisition, which didn't sing worth a cent, had finished his bath. The pretty yellow feathers faded when wet, and the 'critter' turned out to be a common brown sparrow."

Source:

Old Colony Memorial, November 10, 1900, p. 3.

Illustration:
"Song Sparrow", courtesy of The Graphics Fairy.