Our  Canaries 
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CHAPTER  XX. 
GREEN  CANARIES. 
THAT  the  Green  is  the  fountain-head  of  colour  in  our  domestic  Canaries  is  an 
axiom  which  every  fancier  becomes  conversant  with  in  his  earliest  days  of 
Canary  breeding.  But  it  is  not  so  generally  known  what  the  fountain-head  really 
means.  It  is  in  fact  a  simple  colloquialism  meant  to  convey  the  knowledge  that 
the  green  colour  is  the  prototype  from  which  all  our  domesticated  Canaries  are 
evolved,  so  that  however  obscure  the  exact  species  which  formed  the  true  ancestral 
stock,  of  its  colour  at  least  there  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt — it  was  green.  Of 
this  we  still  have  ample  proof  in  the  tendency  of  all  varieties,  even  at  this 
enormous  distance  from  the  prototype,  to  revert  back  to  the  green  colour  immedi- 
ately human  control  over  the  breeding  and  selection  of  mates  is  removed,  or  in 
crossing  old-established  and  distinct  varieties  together.  The  Cinnamon,  as  we 
have  shown,  when  crossed  with  another  distinct  variety  almost  invariably  reverts 
at  one  step  back  to  the  green.  But  beyond  the  rapidity  of  this  reversion  the 
phenomenon  is  by  no  means  singular.  The  crossing  of  any  other  distinct  varieties 
— a  Lizard  and  a  Yorkshire,  or  a  Border  Fancy  and  a  Belgian  for  example — will 
revert  in  the  same  direction,  and,  although  the  transition  may  be  more  gradual, 
will  make  rapid  strides  towards  resuming  the  green  plumage.  More  than  this,  the 
tendency  to  revert  to  the  green  type  is  very  strongly  marked  in  every  variety  with- 
out resorting  to  any  outside  cross  at  all,  because  if  we  put  two  ticked  or  lightly- 
marked  birds  together  of  the  same  variety,  even  if  they  come  from  clear  stock,  the 
light  plumage  straightway  begins  to  vanish  and  the  progeny  make  a  decided  and 
unmistakable  step  towards  variegation,  and  these  variegated  progeny,  if  again 
mated  together,  will  produce  young  that  come  very  close  to  the  green,  self  or 
broken  type.  It  is  indeed  but  a  short  step  from  the  clear  to  the  green  at  any 
time. 
ITS  NOMENCLATURE. 
Our  first  intention  was  to  inscribe  this  chapter  to  the  Green  Canary,  but 
maturer  thought  convinces  us  of  the  probability  of  such  a  title  becoming  a  mis- 
nomer in  the  near  future,  and  induces  us  to  select  the  more  comprehensive  title  as 
the  most  correct  and  up-to-date  appellation.  In  this  case  there  is  far  less  reason 
to-day  for  using  the  word  "  Green  "  in  a  substantive  sense  as  indicative  of  a 
definite  breed  than  there  exists  for  using  the  word  "  Cinnamon  "  in  such  a  manner. 
There  is  not  the  same  unification  of  type.  The  old  original  Green  of  the 
Yorkshire  persuasion,  formerly  known  as  the  "  Liverpool  Green,"  is  now  supple- 
mented by  the  Norwich  and  Border  Fancy  type,  both  standardised  and  accepted 
types  with  many  adherents  and  enjoying  a  large  share  of  popularity.  We  have 
therefore,  decided  to  bring  together  these  recognised  standard  types  and  deal 
with  them  collectively  as  Green  Canaries. 
