Green the Foundation Colour. 95 



French, and may be taken to signify jonquil-coloured, which speaks for itself; Mealy requires 

 no comment. 



Having thus cleared the way, we will endeavour to show how the Clear Jonque Norwich 

 Canary to which we have alluded has been produced, and, from our investigation of the subject, 

 deduce the laws which govern the recognised system of classification and the nomenclature adopted 

 with regard to it. We remark, in the first place, that the fountain of colour in the entire variety is 

 the original green. And this word " green " requires some explanation, for after all it may turn 

 out not to be green. That it is a form of green we think is admitted on all hands ; and the fact 

 that the corresponding type in some other varieties is green, pure and simple, seems to support 

 the idea. The one green, however, does not eventually resolve itself into the same form of yellow 

 as the other : from the pure green we get lemon-yellow, and from the Norwich green we get 

 jonque, or orange. The foundation colour of our bird is of a rich bronzy tone, so much so that 

 whenever a bird of this type comes into competition with a pure green in a bond fide Green class 

 it is invariably passed over as not being green. Then what is it 1 It has always seemed to us to 

 be no inapt comparison when we say it resembles a piece of gamboge, or some of the deep yellows 

 in an artist's colour-box. Outwardly it shows but little indication of the delicate tints lurking 

 within, but can be diluted and toned down to almost any shade. So with our bird : we have every 

 gradation of tint, from the semi- opaque bronzy specimen down to pure jonque, which we can 

 further tone down to a pale straw; and in the so-called pure green, which we have admitted to be 

 so as much for the sake of argument and illustration as anything, we find the same diluting 

 process possible, with this difference, that it ends in a lemon-yellow with a decided green tinge, 

 capable again of being toned down to a greenish-white. 



These Self-coloured Norwich Greens (we will adhere to the name) having a disposition to break 

 or sport, advantage is taken of this, and it is cultivated to its ultimate issue. The first step in the 

 direction of albinism gives us the " Heavily Variegated " class, as it is called in show language, or 

 the " Broken Greens " of the breeding-room, and is generally understood to include those birds 

 which, although showing a fair amount of light colour, still carry a preponderance of the original 

 green in irregular blotches or patches, one condition being usually insisted on — viz., that the bird 

 shall not have a clean breast, in which case it is said to be " Lightly Variegated." These distinctions 

 are not recognised by some schools of breeders, but they are important as indicating two separate 

 and distinct bars of the colour-ladder. In public shows they are seldom or ever acknowledged, 

 but are united under the comprehensive term "Variegated;" but in clubs where the members 

 understand their business and have an annual exhibition among the members for the purpose of 

 comparing notes, it is usual to keep every link in the colour-chain separate. A Lightly Variegated 

 bird, in addition to a clean breast, must still be more or less marked on the back or neck, either 

 or both, independently of carrying the green on the wings — a feature common to both classes ; in 

 short, it must have "foul" or body-marks. From this brief outline it will be seen that the 

 difference between " Heavily " and " Lightly " variegated is entirely a question of degree, the 

 conditions being the existence of body- marks, and the dividing line the presence or absence of a 

 clean breast. The most advanced form of light variegation is when the entire bird, including 

 wings and tail, is perfectly clean with the exception of a few dark feathers interspersed here and 

 there, or in the form of a grizzly patch on the head, neck, or back ; such feathers usually being 

 not dark from the quill to the end of the web, but grey or grizzly, showing a tendency to 

 an entire fading out of the native green. These are known as " Ticked " birds. 



One feature in connection with the Variegated birds, and more particularly the Heavily 

 Variegated portion, must be noticed as bearing on our gradation of colour theory, and showing that 



