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Our  Canaries 
all,  and  the  present-day  popular  breeds  will  doubtless  always  appeal  to  a  goodly 
number  of  fanciers,  and  offer  ample  scope  for  improvement  and  the  production  of 
new  varieties.  A  vast  field  is  yet  open  for  the  revival  and  perfecting  of  the 
even-marks  in  both  Yorkshires  and  Norwich  ;  to  complete  the  work  which  is 
already  well  begun  in  the  Border  Fancy ;  and  to  establish  the  Cinnamon  marking 
in  other  breeds  as  has  been  so  well  done  in  the  case  of  the  Yorkshire  and  Border 
Fancies.  In  the  Crest  variety  the  yellows  offer  much  scope  for  improvement, 
and  the  yellow  crest  and  cinnamon  crest  await  further  development.  The  rapid 
infusion  of  cinnamon  blood  into  other  breeds  for  the  sake  of  variety  in  markings 
must  sooner  or  later  jeopardise  the  position  of  the  pure  Cinnamon,  unless  it  is 
taken  in  hand  by  more  fanciers  to  preserve  its  purity  and  unique  characteristics. 
But  with  the  sole  exception  of  the  London  Fancy,  no  breed  is  in  more  need 
of  attention  than  the  Belgian,  which,  unless  its  admirers  increase,  and  foster  its 
interests,  seem  to  be  in  great  danger  of  ere  long  losing  its  separate  identity  and 
becoming  absorbed  into  the  Scotch  Fancy.  The  Greens  might  well  become 
more  widely  distributed,  and  the  Dutch  Frill  as  a  recent  introduction  to  our  list 
of  breeds  offers  a  good  chance  of  success  to  the  beginner.  The  tuneful  little 
Roller,  far  from  losing  any  of  its  prestige  as  a  domestic  pet,  has  made  a  great 
advance  in  popularity,  and  affords  excellent  opportunities  for  training  and 
developing  its  song. 
THE  CINNAMON  TRAIL. 
A  few  notes  by  Mr.  E.  Pretty,  anent  the  past  and  present  use  of  the 
Cinnamon  in  crossing  will  be  of  interest  here.  "  There  is  no  bird  in  the  Fancy," 
he  writes,  "  so  useful  for  crossing  to  get  quality  of  feather  and  colour  as  the 
Cinnamon ;  yet  in  some  cases  I  have  known  it  to  throw  nearly  white  birds,  and, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  I  have  known  these  nearly  white  birds  to  throw 
high-colour  ones  when  paired  to  deep-coloured  cocks.  These  light-colour  birds 
will  be  found  to  turn  up  in  the  second  cross  from  the  Cinnamon.  We  may  call 
him,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  the  actor  in  Canarydom,  for  he  plays  many  parts 
with  different  breeds  of  Canaries. 
"  Cinnamon  Crests  :  The  Cinnamon  cross  in  this  breed  is  not  new.  I  have 
known  it  to  be  used  in  Crests — over  thirty  years  ago — for  the  production  of  the 
veiny  crest  feather  and  quantity  of  feather  by  the  aid  of  double  buffing.  Since 
the  introductionof  the  Lancashire,  a  good  cross  is  a  yellow  Coppy  cockpaired  to  a  buff 
Cinnamon-crested  hen.  The  breeder  gains  four  objects  in  one  year — the  Lanca- 
shire, the  Cinnamon,  double-crests,  and  yellow  blood.  Once  in  four  years  will 
be  sufficient  for  this  cross. 
"  Cinnamon  Yorkshires  :  No  bird  in  the  Fancy  contains  so  much  Cinnamon 
blood  as  the  Yorkshire  of  the  present  day.  He  stands  first  for  quality  of  feather, 
and  with  his  beautiful  silkiness  of  boxwood-like  plumage  seems  so  near  perfection 
that  it  becomes  a  question  whether  fanciers  can  get  any  more  out  of  him.  Some 
