1 88 ANIMAL ARTISANS 



variations should be almost as interesting as the per- 

 manence of type. The " lizard " canaries, for example, 

 are spangled all over the breast, back, and shoulders 

 with elegant spots of silver or golden tints. The 

 " cinnamons " are of a most beautiful mixed tint of 

 orange and mealy grey. Norwich canaries without 

 crests are a brilliant yellow. Others are yellow or 

 buff, with crests as regular as a crop of hair cut round 

 the rim of a barber's basin. 



Most of the best known breeds of the present time 

 existed as early as the end of the seventeenth century ; 

 for Mr. G. Barnesby, in his work on the canary, 

 mentions a book published in 1709 in which twenty- 

 eight varieties are mentioned, comprising nearly all 

 those known at the present day. 



When perfection of form has been attained, perfection 

 of colour becomes the object of the canary exhibitor. 

 Some of the little birds appear in orange plumage, 

 which exceeds in depth and richness the colours of 

 the orioles or tropical tanagers. "Buff" is the name 

 by which this tint is known to " the fancy," who, like 

 most specialists, attach a different set of meanings to 

 words in common use when applied to the mysteries 

 of their craft. The means by which this beautiful 

 tint is conveyed to the plumage of a pale, almost 

 primrose-yellow, bird like the " Norwich plain " canary 

 is so mechanical that if it were not for the part 

 played by Nature in transferring pigment from food 

 to feathers, it would deserve classing with the manu- 

 facture of green carnations and blue roses by steeping 

 the stems in dyed liquids. 





