Serin gris 



Serin gris aux partes blanches 

 Serin gris k queue blanche 

 Serin blond commun 

 Serin aux yeux rouges 



STATEMENT OF PROBLEM. 7 



First it appears that although in 1677 only green canaries were 

 known, as early as 1713 three main color varieties had become estab- 

 lished, in which various subvarieties are recognized. The whole series 

 as given by Hervieux is as follows : 



Serin blond dor6 



Serin blond aux duvets 



Serin jaune commun 



Serin jaune aux duvets (race de Panaches) 



Serin jaune a queue blanche (idem) 



Hervieux' s "Serin gris" is doubtless of the wild type of coloration; 

 our "green." The "jaune" is doubtless the modern clear or yellow 

 type. Hervieux states that it is (in 1713) among the rare varieties. 

 What the "blond" type is can only be conjectured, but it is probably 

 our mealy, or light, yellow. If this inference is correct three of the 

 modern colors of canaries — green, jonque yellow, and mealy yellow — 

 made their appearance at about the end of the seventeenth century. 

 Their appearance would seem to have been quite sudden — a result 

 indicating their origin by mutation rather than by slow increments in 

 the desired direction.* 



It appears also that mottled or variegated birds (race de Panaches) 

 were known, and as we shall see later they are probably the result of 

 the crossing of a green bird and a yellow one. Such variegated birds 

 were much esteemed in the early part of the eighteenth century. 

 During the first half of that century the number of color varieties 

 was greatly increased, since Hervieux, in his edition of 1766, recorded 

 29 color varieties including gris (green), blond (mealy yellow), jaune 

 (jonque yellow), agate, Isabella (buff or cinnamon), blanc (white), 

 panache (mottled), and ple^n — "qui est a present le plus rare." 



The histories do not state when the crested form first appeared. 

 Crested birds, like yellow ones, are now bred in captivity in their native 

 islands. The frizzled characteristic found in the Parisian Trumpeter 

 or Serin frise or Dutch frizzle is probably relatively recent, as it is rela- 

 tively uncommon. Likewise of the other varieties (lizards, albinos, etc.), 

 the origin is quite obscure. The introducer of a new variety usually 

 conceals its origin; indeed, he has little to say, as he does not produce 

 or induce the new characteristic, but merely preserves that with which 

 fortune has favored him. 



The history of acclimated canary birds thus reveals their com- 

 paratively recent domestication and justifies the contention that their 

 characteristics may well be expected to be inherited much as they 

 would be if found in wild birds. 



The specific characteristics upon which I propose to report in the 

 present paper are two ; viz., plumage-color and crest. The matters of 



*Russ (1906, 6) concludes that the change from green to yellow certainly 

 occurred quickly. 



