792 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



CANARIES, CAT, 



miotograph by Wilhelm lubifii 

 ROOSTER, AND PARROT GREET CUSTOMERS ON 

 A PET-SHOP DOORSTEP 



Small monkeys, cats, and birds all live together in harmony at a store in 

 Funchal, Madeira Islands. From its place of origin in Madeira, the Azores, 

 and the Canary Islands, the canary has been transported to every country 

 in the world (pages 775 and 791). 



terest to examine some of tfie distinct strains 

 kept mainly by canary fanciers, who breed pure 

 stock and retain only those birds with the defi- 

 nite characters of the variety concerned. 



White Canary 



White canaries were recorded in 1677 as a 

 variation from the ordinary yellow kind. They 

 were much prized, so that males sold for 50 

 gulden each, but by 1702 they were produced 

 in such numbers that they were valued at only 

 3 gulden. 



These white birds are simply albinos, or indi- 

 viduals that have lost not only the original 



black streakings but 

 also the other pigments, 

 so that they appear 

 without color (Plate I). 

 In the United States 

 twenty years ago they 

 were rare and com- 

 manded prices of from 

 $ 3 5 to $ S or even 

 more. But n o w they 

 are found in some 

 abundance and are 

 valued more for their 

 ability in song than for 

 their color. 



Cinnamon Canary 



The cinnamon canary 

 is also an albinistic va- 

 riety, a tendency that 

 is shown by its red or 

 pink eyes. Its true 

 color is a brown, mixed 

 sometimes with yellow, 

 with much white in the 

 wings and tail (Color 

 Plate I). 



In breeding, the cin- 

 namon inheritance is 

 transmitted by the 

 male, as young bred 

 from a cinnamon 

 mother and a male of 

 some other color do not 

 have the pink eyes or 

 the brown color of the 

 cinnamon breed. 



Lizard Canary 



The lizard canary is 

 a most handsome va- 

 riety in its bold, regular 

 pattern and contrasting 

 colors. The gold lizard 

 has the body color yel- 

 low (Plate I ), while in 

 the silver lizard this is 

 silvery gray. The crown 

 in purebred birds is 

 light in color, without 

 spots, and the wings and tail are black. 



Though so attractively marked, these birds 

 long remained rare in the United States and 

 are still rather difficult to obtain. They are 

 among the higher priced varieties. 



The young at first are plain with a \ellow 

 cap, becoming spangled at the first molt. They 

 are at their best in their first year of life, as, 

 when the feathers are renewed at the next 

 molt, the pattern usually becomes less definite 

 and the wing and tail feathers become tipped 

 with white. 



A relative is the London fancy canary, which 

 when young is like the lizard, but at the first 



