Our  Canaries 
219 
29  varieties.  At  this  time  the  birds  would  appear  to  be  variations  rather  than 
distinct  and  established  breeds.  They  are  enumerated  by  Hervieux  in  his 
Treatise  on  Canaries,  published  in  1713,  in  the  order  of  rarity  as  follows : — i.  The 
common  grey  Canary;  2.  The  grey,  with  small  feathers  and  white  feet;  3.  The 
grey,  with  white  tail ;  4.  The  common  blond  Canary  (possibly  synonymous  with  our 
buffs);  5.  The  blond,  with  red  eyes;  6.  The  golden  blond;  7.  The  Canary  with 
blond  small  feathers  ;  8.  The  blond,  with  white  tail;  g.  The  common  yellow  Canary  ; 
10.  The  Canary  with  yellow  small  feathers  (which  might  imply  that  the  large 
feathers  of  the  wings  and  tail  were  of  some  other  colour,  and  if  they  were  dark  the 
birds  would  very  probably  be  the  prototypes  of  London  Fancy)  ;  11.  The  yellow, 
with  white  tail ;  12.  The  common  agate  Canary  (which  may,  we  believe,  possibly 
have  been  the  ancestor  of  our  Lizards)  ;  13.  The  agate  with  red  eyes;  14.  The 
agate  with  white  tail ;  15.  The  Canary  with  small  agate  feathers  ;  16.  The  common 
Isabelle  Canary;  17.  The  Isabelle,  with  red  eyes  (which,  in  our  opinion,  is  very 
probably  the  progenitor  of  our  cinnamons)  ;  18.  The  golden  Isabelle;  ig.  The  Canary 
with  Isabelle  small  feathers ;  20.  The  white  Canary  with  red  eyes  (possibly 
albino  freaks,  yet  sufficient  to  show  that  the  recent  production  of  white  Canaries  is 
by  no  means  unprecedented);  21.  The  common  variegated  Canary;  22.  The 
variegated  with  red  eyes  ;  23.  The  Canary  variegated  with  blond ;  24.  The  Canary 
variegated  with  blond,  and  with  red  eyes ;  25.  The  Canary  variegated  with  black; 
26.  The  Jonquille  Canary,  variegated  with  black,  and  with  red  eyes;  27.  The 
Jonquille,  evenly  variegated  with  black ;  28.  The  full  Canary,  which  is  rarest  (the 
term  being  clearly  defined  as  referring  to  a  bird  that  is  fully  and  entirely  yellow 
Jonquille)  ;  and  lastly,  29.  The  crowned,  or  crested  Canary,  which,  even  in  those 
far-off  days,  is  described  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful. 
BREEDS   THAT   HAVE  DISAPPEARED. 
The  great  majority  of  the  variations  of  those  early  days,  taking  them  merely 
as  colour  varieties,  have  their  counterparts  in  most,  or  all,  of  our  popular  breeds 
to-day,  but  as  distinct  breeds,  if  they  ever  existed  as  such,  they  have  filled  their 
niche  in  the  temple  of  fame  and  disappeared  from  our  ken  as  the  pendulum  of 
fashion  has  swung  in  favour  of  new  and  more  distinct  breeds,  as  these  sprung  up 
and  became  sufficiently  fixed  in  type  to  breed  true  to  certain  recognised  and 
distinct  features.  Some  of  these  colour  varieties  became  common,  and  appealed 
to  a  particular  class  of  breeders  who  doubtless  took  them  in  hand  to  develop  and 
cultivate  (just  as  each  breed  to-day  has  its  particular  class  of  admirers),  and  so 
fixed  and  strengthened  their  peculiarities  as  to  develop  and  perpetuate  distinct 
branches  from  the  common  stock,  which  ultimately  became  the  progenitors  of 
such  unique  breeds  as  the  Lizard,  the  Cinnamon,  and  the  Norwich. 
That  these  old  breeds,  characteristic  branches  of  root  stock  as  they  doubtless 
are,  should  have  been  lost,  and  that  others  are  being  allowed  to  drift  rapidly 
