278 THE CANARY. 



of Europe. Their preservation in captivity was rendered 

 at first more difficult, by the fact that very few females 

 were imported. The original colour of the bird was grey, 

 inclining to green on the under part of the body, and, on the 

 whole, not unlike that of the Lin-net. But this has undergone 

 so complete a change from domestication, difference of climate, 

 and hybridizing with birds allied in species, that we now have 

 Canaries of almost every colour. The prevailing hues, how- 

 ever, are grey, yellow, white, blackish, and reddish brown ; 

 the mixture of which again gives rise to innumerable varieties. 

 In Italy the Canary has bred chiefly with the Citril Finch and 

 the Serin ; in Northern Europe with the Linnet, Green Finch, 

 and Siskin. "Were it not indeed a well-established fact that 

 the Canary is a native of the islands of the same name,, we 

 might reasonably suppose that it descended from some one or 

 more of the species above-mentioned. I have seen a mule 

 between a Siskin and a Serin, which exactly resembled a Green 

 Canary, and also the offspring of a female Grey Canary, in 

 which no trace of their real parentage was discernible. 



Those Canaries which are blackish grey, or greyish brown on 

 the upper part of the body, like a Linnet, and at the lower part 

 greenish yellow, like a Green Finch, are the commonest and 

 healthiest birds, and have deviated less from the colour of the 

 original stock. Their eyes are dark brown. Yellow and white 

 Canaries have often red eyes, and are not so strong. The reddish- 

 brown Canaries, with greyish brown eyes, are the rarest, and 

 in respect to strength and longevity, occupy an intermediate 

 position between the other two varieties. As, however, the 

 plumage of the Canary generally displays more than one of 

 these colours, the bird is valuable in proportion to the regu- 

 larity with which it is marked. Those, however, in which 

 the body is yellow or white, and the wings, tail, and head 

 particularly if crested yellowish dun, are at present con- 

 sidered the handsomest birds. Next to these are the Golden 

 Yellow Canaries, with black, blue, or blackish grey head, 

 wings, and tail ; then, the blackish bird, with grey or yellow 

 head and collar ; next, the Yellow Canaries, with black or 

 greenish yellow head, which in this case should have a crest. 

 The grey, or almost black Canaries, with the yellow breast, and 

 white head and tail, are held in peculiar estimation. Such 

 birds as are irregularly mottled or spotted, as well as those 



