25S 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



lia\'c not only the rich wholf-coloiirftl bird 

 known as Sell', which, it need scarc-cly bf 

 oxphiint'd, nuist licrc 1)0 rcoardcd as a 

 ti'clinical term nicaninn' absohitely free 

 Troiu liji'lit or non-cinnanion-colonred 

 feathers. l)nt we also have the variegated 

 ci)Uinr-()jJsh<)tits thrown olT in working up- 

 wards ironi the Norwieh eross. This gives 

 us, therefore, the key to a natural classi- 

 fication of what we call the modern Cinna- 

 mon, which is. (d) Ski.f. (/;) Va]!ikc;ateu. 

 always recollecting that the Self bird is the 

 self-coloured form, and that the order of 

 progression is from light or parti-coloured 

 up to dark, the two birds we ha^•e tlcscribcd 

 being the rc])rescutatives of Class [a). It 

 iinist also not he forgotten that the original 

 Cinnamon, which we have assiuiied to be 

 defunct — practically, it is so — we are re- 

 garding only as a base, having indelible 

 traits, on which have been reared three 

 superstructures, and that we are dealing 

 with the first of tlu' three, the Norwich 

 Cinnamon or Cinnamon Norwich, as repre- 

 senting the bird from a colom- ])oint of 

 view in hai-mony with our original plan o\ 

 arranging tlu- Canary faiiiil\- in grou])s. 



We will dismiss Class («), then, without 



further remark, exccjjt to say this class 



can be. and is, subdisidcd 



'^^^ iiilo Yellow and HulT, and 



Variegated i , ,, ,t . , , 



Cinnamon. I "•"<■''•'' I" the Variegated or 

 Class (//), which is sul)di\ided 

 iulo ]'(irti'j[iitt(l j)ro|)cr and FA-tulij-nKO-l^vd. 

 'he lirst including c\ci-y possible i)ic<l I'orm, 

 no! being e\culy-iiiai-kc(l, I'rom llic l)ird 

 which has bnl one liglil re;illuT in il down 

 to llial ha\iug but one cinnainon-colourc'd 

 leather. JJctwcen these two extremes it is 

 ob\ious Iherc cxisis evci-y degree oT \arie- 

 gation. its extent counting for nothing, 

 tlntugh. as in the Norwieh. the greater the 

 (|uaiilily of clear Icathci-s and the less of 

 the green. I he nearer is |)ei'feclion ; so. in 

 the Cinn.-iuiou. the larger the distribution 

 of cinnamon colonr and the fcwci' the li^ht 

 or white feathers, the nearer I he bird is 

 to the goal. In judging a. class, however, 

 in which the definition " \'ariegated '" is 

 uicanl to eon\'ey nothing further th.-m its 

 l)urely technical meaning, and no idea 



whate\-er of marking, the aiuonut of varie- 

 gation is not of so nuu'h \alue as the ([uality 

 of the colour \\hi<'h rules paramount. 

 Slight ticks in an otherwise whole-coloured 

 bird are easy to detect, a frequent lorm 

 being a very small patch on the back of 

 the head, one of the many trials which 

 sorely exercise the minds of some fanciers. 

 The safest way to inspec-t such birds is 

 with the hands dec]) down in the trousers 

 |)ocket : for. il' handled, tliest' foul feathers 

 arc so a])t to — for want of a better ^\■ord 

 we will say apt to come out. Canary and 

 cage-bird morality, k't us say here, even 

 if it be scarcely the right ])lace. to its 

 creilit be it written, is governed by no 

 fast and loose policy. We do not sav 

 its laws ai'c never broken by the unscru- 

 pulous : but nothing is allowed, or recog- 

 nised, or understood, in the sense of " they 

 all do it."" to make a bird iipjX'iO' what il 

 is not : and the wretched sojjhistry which 

 argues that a birtl nmst be good to Ijcgin 

 with, to bear " making "" — the fcrtik' cause 

 of dece})tion and fratid among some 

 elas'-cs of fanciei's— has no rest for the sole 

 of its loot in llu' Cauar\' and cage-bird 

 show-room. .Somi' reader may ask, smil- 

 ing : "■ llow about colour IV-cdiug ? " To 

 auswi'r the qui'sfion is. |)erhaiis. to admit 

 its reasonableness. Our reply is: that it 

 ncilln'r adds to nor subtracts from, 

 iiicchdn/'riilli/. but develops iiiiliirdlli/. and 

 shows what a bird /.v. 



Conchuling our remarks on N'aricgat ion, 



we observe th;it another common .-111(1 Ncry 



\'c\atioiis I'orm is the prcs- 



Foul (.|ice of a while feather in the 



MarKed Bird. 



win^s or tail a defect which, 



as ail item ol' breeding iiil'ormal ion. il is 

 inueh more diHiciilt to eliminate than iiien; 

 body ticks. 



We regl-cl that <'lasses ari' not given at 

 shows for this class of Cinniimon. lor we 

 .-ire |(crfectly salislied that such classes 

 would be palrouised by brecdci's to a 

 greater exicul than lliose I'or ""Sell, 

 and wilhonl the sliglitcsl detriment to 

 the self-coloured birds, and they would 

 nialeriallv assist to make tlic Cinnamon 

 more popular. Some say such foul-marked 



