Our  Canaries 
363 
CHAPTER  XXVI. 
THE    ROLLER   AND   SINGING  CANARIES. 
THE    ROLLER  TYPE. 
THE  early  fortunes  and  probable  origin  of  the  domesticated  Song  Canary — the 
undoubted  progenitor  of  what  we  now  term  collectively  Roller  Canaries — 
have  already  been  fully  dealt  with  and  traced  down  to  historical  times  in  our  first 
chapter.  Of  type  or  external  characteristics  for  the  breeder's  guidance  there  is 
none  pertaining  to  the  Roller.  Its  vocal  powers,  quality  of  voice,  purity  of  song 
and  freedom  and  ease  of  delivery  are  the  only  points,  apart  from  general  robust- 
ness and  stamina,  which  weigh  with  the  breeder  of  pure  Rollers.  Consequently, 
in  appearance  the  Roller  is  the  most  nondescript  type  of  Canary  we  possess,  or, 
indeed,  it  may  be  truly  termed  the  Canary  with  no  type  at  all.  In  size  it  is  the 
smallest  variety  we  possess,  averaging  from  five  to  five-and-a-half  inches  in  length 
over  all ;  in  shape  it  varies  from  a  plump,  cobby,  well-proportioned  bird  to  a  lank, 
lean,  leggy  and  long-tailed  "  slip  of  a  thing  "  ;  and  in  colour  practically  every 
variety  of  variegation  on  a  yellow  or  buff  ground  and  self  green  may  be  found,  but 
all  of  the  most  imperfect  and  washed-out  kind,  showing  clearly  the  breeder's  utter 
disregard  for  colour  and  markings.  Its  vocal  abilities  coupled  with  its  compara- 
tive hardihood  and  ease  of  management  have  enabled  it  hitherto,  and  will  probably 
continue  to  enable  it,  to  command  the  admiration  of  a  considerable  army  of  devo- 
tees, to  whom  the  cheery  little  songster  is  an  indispensable  part  of  the  home  life. 
STRAINS    OF  ROLLERS. 
In  quite  recent  years  the  breeding  and  training  of  the  Roller  has  become  a 
large  and  growing  portion  of  the  Fancy  in  England,  so  that  it  is  no  flight  of  fancy 
to  imagine  a  time  in  the  not  very  distant  future  when  the  British  workman  will 
make  as  profitable  a  recreation  of  the  hobby  of  rearing  song  Canaries  as  the 
peasantry  of  Germany  and  Switzerland  have  done  for  generations  past. 
An  unfortunate  phase  of  the  Roller  Fancy  in  England  to-day,  and  one  which 
gives  rise  to  a  great  amount  of  error  and  confusion  in  the  mind  of  the  novice,  is 
the  multitude  of  meaningless,  and  sometimes  misleading,  names  which  are  applied 
to  these  birds.  This,  naturally,  has  given  rise  to  the  impression  in  a  large 
section  of  the  Fancy  that  many  varieties  of  Rollers  exist ;  whereas,  in  practically 
every  case,  the  varying  names  which  cause  such  an  impression  have  simply  been 
tacked  on  to  the  ordinary  German  Singing  Canary  by  dealers  at  various  times  in 
order  to  cope  with  increased  trade  competition.  Twenty  years  ago,  barely  more 
than  two  such  names  would  be  met  with — the  Hartz  Mountain,  and  the  St. 
Andreasberg  Canary  or  Roller — representing  two  classes  of  trained  birds.  But 
now-a-days  we  have  in  addition  to  these  names  such  prefixes  to  the  name  Roller 
as  Glucke,  Seifert,  Triite,  Erntjes,  Edel,  Koller,  Hummel,  Leipzig,  and  many 
others.     For  all  practical  purposes  the  fancier  starting  breeding  Rollers  may 
GG2 
