HISTORY OF THE CANARY 



23 



" Variegated race," for he also adds (p. 

 272) : " I say also that there are Canaries 

 ■which are ot the variegated race which 

 ha^'e not, however, any of the three marks 

 which I have given above, or which have 

 not even one of them ; so that it is neces- 

 sary to leave it to the good faith of those 

 who sell them to you for the variegated race." 



These explanations prove that the term 

 " race de Panachez " strictly means with 

 white tail, with a few white body- feathers, or 

 with both these variations from the self-grey 

 or self-cinnamon in their different shades. 



In our muling experiments we ha\'e shown 

 that the first variations to occur are these 

 particular ones — viz., white feathers in tail, 

 a small white spot at the back of the head 

 or on other parts of the body. Our term 

 " Variegated " is denoted towards the end 

 of the list (" which conuuences with the 

 commonest and Ihiishcs with the most 

 rare ") by the single word, " Panache " — 

 e.g., " Serin Panaeke coDimim." 



To understand the list, we nuist also 

 recollect, as I have shown in my experi- 

 ments with wild cinnanion sports, that 

 self-cinnamon is a varying colour, and 

 frequently changes in the same bird through 

 various shades of pale cinnamon to a 

 creamy white, often with a gloss of yellow 

 on the surface {blond dore). 



We must also remember that the colour 



grey is, like cinnamon, one of the jiallid 



variations which occur in 



„ ^^J. , Nature — e.g., grey Greenfinch, 

 Greenfinch. & ■ t^ j 



a very beautiful example of 

 which, a female, was shown at the Scottish 

 National Show, 1909. and is the property of 

 Mr. J. ^V. Bruce, Coldstream. This bird 

 is said to be three years old, and not to 

 have changed its colour ; but it is quite 

 likely that other examples might grow 

 paler, just as the cinnamon type does, for 

 present-day grey and grizzle crests invari- 

 ably moult lighter each year until ulti- 

 mately they become clear.* 



* Two silver-grey Linnets (i. caiinabina) died in my 

 possession, were examined, found to be females, and 

 are now preserved. A beautiful silver-c;rey StarliiiK 

 gained first prize in the Rare-featliercd class at the 

 Cryst:il Palace Show, 1!)1U. This bird is also of the 

 female se.\. 



Hervieux's 

 List. 



The mottled or spangled type of varia- 

 tion (in my opinion, closely allied to cinna- 

 mon) also appears in the "agate "' varieties. 



Having considered these preliminary 

 points, we are now in a position to inter- 

 pret the list itself : — 



" Noms que Von donne aux 

 Serins, selon leurs difjerentes 

 couleur,s." 



" Je croy qiCil est apropos de marquer ici 

 les nonis que Von donne communcment aux 

 Serins, selon leurs difjerentes couleurs ; afin 

 que Von srache en quelle classe, on pliitot 

 en quel degrc de beautc sont les Serins que 

 Von a, ou ceux que Von souhaite avoir : pour 

 cet efjet je me suis propose de les nommer par 

 ordre, en comrneni^ant par les plus communs, 

 et finissant par les plus rares.'' 



1. Serin Gris commun. (The ordinary 

 grey Canary.) 



2. Serin Gris aux duvets * et aux pattes 

 blanches, quon appelle Race de Panachez. 

 (Slightly variegated Frilled Canary with 

 white feet.) 



3. Serin Gris a queue blancJie, race de 

 Panachez. (Slightly variegated Canary 

 with white tail.) 



4. 6'erm Blond commun. (The ordinary 

 Pale Canary.) 



5. Serin Blond aux yeux rouges. (The 

 Pale Canary with \nnk eyes.) 



G. Serin Blond dore. (The Pale Canary 

 glossed with yellow.) 



7. Serin Blond aux duvets, race de Pana- 

 chez. (Slightly variegated Pale Frilled 

 Canary. ) 



8. Serin Blond a queue blanche, race de 

 Panachez. (Slightly variegated Pale Canary 

 with white tail.) 



* "i)Mft'^s" means the liuht feathers which adorn 

 the under-surface of the body of birds, and may be 

 translated downy or frilled— for it is this part of 

 the bird that tirst shows the tendency to excess of 

 feather seen in Dutch Frills. Hervieux's explanation 

 of "le diivef." at page 271, may be translated as follows : 

 '■ which shows itself, when taking your Canary in your 

 hand, you find on it, ou blowing it under the body 

 and stomach, a little white down {tin petit duvet bliinr), 

 and in consequence of a diftei-ent colour from the 

 natural plumage." He also adds : " There are some 

 Canaries which have much more of this down than 

 others. This is what one finds with the fanciers; one 

 they call Serins au petit duvet, that is to say, those 

 which show a little, and the others they call Serins 

 aa grand duvet, that is to say, tho.se which have much ; 

 this down does not appear usually till near the moult." 



