Our  Canaries  223 
of  our  modern  fanciers  claim  that  the  beautiful  quality  of  feather  possessed  by  this 
bird  has  been  got  from  the  Norwich  of  the  early  days.  Personally,  I  must  differ 
from  them.  Years  ago  Norwich  were  used  largely,  crossed  with  the  Belgian,  to 
produce  the  Yorkshire.  The  Lancashire  was  not  known  as  a  cross  at  that  time. 
We  did  not  have  the  quality  of  feather  in  those  days  that  we  have  at  the 
present  time. 
"The  Border  Fancy:  Now  we  see  the  breeders  of  Border  Fancies  putting 
Cinnamon  blood  into  their  wee  wonders  it  will  be  as  largely  used  in  this  breed  as 
in  the  Yorkshires.  It  is  the  awakening  of  Cinnamon  blood  in  the  production  of 
quality  of  feather. 
"  Norwich  Plainheads  :  What  the  Cinnamon  has  done  for  the  Yorkshire  it 
will  do  for  the  Plainhead  Norwich.  Several  of  our  breeders  are  now  seeing  the 
possibilities  of  the  cross.  No  doubt  it  has  been  abused  by  unskilled  breeders  pro- 
ducing small-headed  birds,  which  occurs  if  the  right  material  is  not  used.  This 
can  be  avoided  by  getting  a  big-headed  and  broad-chested  buff  Cinnamon  cock. 
Do  not  begrudge  a  few  pounds  for  a  good  specimen,  as  a  bird  of  that  description 
is  worth  it.  This  should  be  paired  to  a  clear  yellow  hen  having  a  good  broad  head 
and  a  broad  chest.  Once  in  four  years  is  sufficient  for  this  cross.  Always  pair  to 
•clear  birds  when  breeding  away  from  this  cross." 
CREATION  OF  NEW  VARIETIES. 
Although  visionary  speculations  concerning  the  future  are  more  amusing  than 
profitable,  we  may,  in  producing  an  exhaustive  compendium  of  Canary  lore,  be 
j)ardoned  for  taking  a  very  brief  review  of  the  possibilities  of  new  breeds  or  varieties 
which  we  may  confidently  hope  to  see  arise  in  the  more  or  less  near  future.  That 
.our  present  known  varieties  will  be  enhanced  by  new  creations  may  be  looked  upon 
as  a  moral  certainty.  Indeed,  considering  the  immense  popularity  of  the  hobby 
-of  Canary  breeding,  and  the  tens  of  thousands  of  specimens  that  are  bred  year 
after  year,  it  would  be  more  than  passing  strange  if  an  occasional  freak  or  sport 
from  any  known  variety,  or  a  greater  or  less  reversion  to  some  defunct  branch  or 
type  of  ancestral  stock,  did  not  appear  from  time  to  time,  and  with  hundreds  of 
keen  fanciers  on  the  watch  for  something  new  or  novel,  such  sports  must,  in  some 
instances,  eventually  be  discovered  by  the  right  class  of  fancier  to  turn  them  to 
.good  account  in  the  evolution  of  some  new  breed,  or  the  revival  of  a  lost  one. 
That  such  specimens  have  cropped  up  for  years  past  in  the  hands  of  breeders  who 
■were  ignorant  of  their  possibilities  we  know  well.  It  is  nearly  ten  years  since  we 
were  privileged  to  examine  the  dead  body  of  the  last  of  several  Canaries  (bred  by 
a  lady  amateur),  which  might  well  have  been  termed  a  "  clear  white,"  and  which 
we  confidently  believed  might,  with  its  defunct  companions  showing  a  similar  lack 
oi  pigment  in  the  plumage,  very  probably  have  become  the  progenitors  of  a  breed 
<of  white  Canaries.    But,  unfortunately,  such  possibilities  had  not  presented 
v2 
