CANARIES 219 



sionally the nape. This canary is still largely bred in Hol- 

 land and in France, but is seldom seen to perfection else- 

 where. 



We come now to the English and Scotch breeds. Since 

 much attention is given to color as well as type in these 

 birds, a few words devoted to this phase will serve for all. 

 Canaries usually occur in three main colors — yellow, green 

 and cinnamon — either clear or marked. The experienced 

 breeder subdivides the yellow birds into two groups. Those 

 in which the color is deep and clear with no shading of 

 white he calls yellows. When the color is pale and with a 

 frosting of white he calls the bird, rather curiously, a buff. 

 Closely allied as these two shades are, each seems to retain 

 its purity when crossed. Strangely enough, the buff birds 

 have the plumage much denser and heavier than the yellows, 

 which excel in fineness of texture. It is customary, there- 

 fore, when mating pairs for breeding, to pair a buff and a 

 yellow, with the object of securing all of the desirable quali- 

 ties in the young. In case density, on the one hand, or 

 silkiness, on the other, is to be intensified, it may be done 

 by pairing two buffs or two yellows, which is known as 

 " doubling." A cross with greens is useful in keeping yel- 

 lows and buffs at their best. 



Green Canaries are a dark olive green in general, the 

 back and sides of the breast being streaked with black. 

 The flights and tail are black, edged with green. Breeders 

 endeavor to get the striping as narrow as possible, thus 

 getting a clearer shade of green. Greens occur in two 

 phases, as do yellows : a dark one, known as yellow-green, 

 and a paler shade, called buff-green. The two forms are 

 mated together, as are yellows and buffs, the typical 

 characters of strength and texture of plumage holding 

 good. 



The Cinnamon is a rich cinnamon-buff, the color being 



