CHAPTER XIV. 



THE MODERN CINNAMON. 



THE innovations that have been practiced in late years by 

 many breeders of canaries, in order to increase the size of 

 their birds, have been extended to the Cinnamon Canary, and 

 carried to such an extent as to greatly imperil the chief 

 characteristics of this truly lovely variety of the Canary 

 family. In place of the beautiful Norwich type of Cinnamons, 

 with their peculiar coats of rich orange brown, or deep reddish 

 mahogany hue, we have had established a race of great overgrown 

 mongrels, many of which show almost every point that is 

 objectionable in a good specimen of this breed. A true 

 Cinnamon is a beautiful bird, and its chief and most valued 

 properties are purity of colour and richness and evenness of 

 tone, pervaded by a bright sheeny surface, which should be 

 evenly distributed over the entire plumage; it should be free 

 from stripiness both on the back, breast, and sides of the 

 body. 



The true colour may be characterised as a reddish-orange 

 brown, with good under colour, and in the jonqucs of high 

 merit there should appear a sort of rich ruby colour peering 

 through the ground colour; and in the buffs, or mealies, a 

 rich orange yellow should glint radiantly on the upper surface 

 of the body colouring, almost dazzling in its intensity; par- 

 ticularly when daylight is fading is this peculiarity observable, 

 and it may be held as a sure sign of high breeding. It is in 

 the evening, or on a dull day, that a good Cinnamon bird is 



