136 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



tivity; once tamed, it easily fell under the spell 

 of domestication. Generations of caged canaries 

 passed. Gradually their primitive coloring be- 

 gan to show a change; yellow replaced the dull 

 olive, gray, and white, and there evolved our 

 vivid-hued songster of to-day. 



There now exist thirty or more canary breeds, 

 some of which show as wide dissimilarity from 

 the wild type as our domestic fowl from the jun- 

 gle-fowl, or a fantail pigeon from a rock-dove. 

 Green,, yellow, and cinnamon canaries are com- 

 mon. They are to be found in all shades of 

 orange, and pure whites are not exceptional. 

 Some breeds are mottled, others are streaked 

 above and below with brown or black ; several are 

 slim of body and long-legged, and a few are dumpy 

 and short-legged. Many are merely balls of fluff 

 and frills, while others own crests Uke Jacobin pi- 

 geons. 



But the breeder's art was not entirely concen- 

 trated upon securing variation in form and color. 

 The trainers worked unceasingly upon the voice 

 of the canary and succeeded in adding to its qual- 

 ity. The natural song of the bird, already wildly 

 sweet, has been enriched with new notes. The 

 soft familiar trill which so pleases the ear is a 

 product of man's selection, not of nature's. 



The best songsters are now bred in Germany, 

 near St. Andreasburg. When the young cocks 

 have completed their first molt — ^females do not 



