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Our  Canaries 
towards  extinction  is  a  matter  for  sincere  regret.  Apart  from  all  sentimental  and 
aesthetic  considerations  their  potentialities  in  the  manufacture  of  new  breeds,  and 
up-keep  of  most  of  the  popular  modern  breeds,  which  we  owe  chiefly  to  their 
influence,  was,  and  is,  of  the  greatest  value,  and  that  this  neglect  of  the  seed-bed, 
as  it  were,  should  increase  rather  than  otherwise  with  the  growth  of  the  Fancy  is 
deplorable. 
DECADENCE   OF   OLD  BREEDS. 
In  quite  recent  times  the  London  Fancy  has  been  practically  lost,  for  though 
it  may  not  yet  be  extinct,  it  has  lingered  so  long  on  the  verge  of  extinction,  from 
which  it  is  saved  by  the  devoted  adherence  of  the  fewest  units  of  devotees,  as  to 
be  extinct  for  all  practical  purposes.  Yet  no  other  breed  can  approach  it  for 
unique  and  striking  characteristics.  Its  near  relative  the  Lizard,  though  in  a 
much  better  condition,  is  much  too  local  and  limited  in  popularity ;  as  also  is  the 
Lancashire — formerly  known  as  the  Manchester  Fancy — the  giant  of  the  race. 
The  condition  of  the  Belgian,  to  which  our  modern  Yorkshire  and  Scotch  Fancy 
owe  so  much,  is  so  rapidly  falling  in  abeyance  that  its  old  title  of  "  King  of  the 
Fancy  "  is  already  the  merest  irony.  The  pure  Cinnamon  is  in  anything  but  a 
flourishing  position,  whilst  such  masterful  productions  of  the  breeder's  skill  as  the 
even-marked  Norwich  are  practically  non  est,  or  when  they  do  appear  give  rise  to 
a  suspicion  that  art  has  been  responsible  for  more  of  the  beauty  and  symmetry  of 
the  markings  than  Nature. 
And  what  is  the  lesson  conveyed  by  these  facts  ?  However  unpleasant  the 
acknowledgment  may  be,  all  cool  and  earnest  thought  points  only  too 
significantly  in  one  certain  direction  :  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  units  of  the 
Fancy  to-day  shun  the  breeds  which  require  the  greatest  amount  of  skill  and 
steady  perseverence  to  breed  to  perfection,  and  which,  by  reason  of  their  limited 
popularity,  are  less  frequently  catered  for  separately  by  show  authorities,  and 
fanciers  prefer  to  tread  the  more  easy  path  to  victory  afforded  by  those  breeds 
that  are  easiest  to  produce.  When  one  looks  around  and  beholds  the  immensely 
popular  breeds,  and  compares  them  with  those  that  are  either  lost  or  rapidly 
waning,  this  fact  becomes  quite  obvious.  It  will  be  said,  and  with  perfect  truth, 
that  a  perfect  specimen  of  any  breed  is  most  difficult  to  produce.  Nevertheless, 
it  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  the  breeds  "under  a  cloud"  are  just  those  which 
demand  the  highest  degree  of  skill  and  application  if  really  good  typical 
specimens  are  to  be  bred.  It  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  fighting  spirit  of 
the  fanciers  of  the  olden  times  will  revive  in  good  time  to  resuscitate  these 
ancient  breeds,  and  bring  them  once  more  to  a  deservedly  prominent  position  in 
the  Fancy. 
DEVELOPING   MODERN  VARIETIES. 
Yet  notwithstanding  this  revival  of  the  old  breeds,  the  newer  creations  must 
not  be  neglected.    Neither  is  such  an  event  likely  to  accrue.     There  is  room  for 
