The Evolution of 
the Canary. 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
(103) 
wich, which most probably was made from the 
hen’s side, had destroyed the erectness of car¬ 
riage which one would associate with the graft¬ 
ing of the Belgian stock on the original York¬ 
shire. 
In those days, as now, there were turbulent 
spirits in the Fancy, men who, not content with 
improvement by natural selection and evolution, 
sought to change the breed by the introduction 
of more alien blood. They wanted something 
larger. This craving led to the reintroduction 
of the Lancashire blood, with its attendant 
looseness of feather, heavy, flat heads, strong 
beaks, and broad shoulders. Such was the bird 
at the time when I first remember it thirty 
years ago. 
Two Influential Works. 
Just previously to this the Fancy had been 
given the first edition of the late R. L. Wal¬ 
lace’s Canary Book. This, the first work pub¬ 
lished dealing with the Canary Fancy from a 
general Fancy standpoint, was published in 
1875, and was followed three years later by that 
splendid w^ork, “ Canaries and Cage Birds,” the 
Canary section being from the pen of that most 
versatile and brilliant writer, the late W. A. 
Blakston. Although only an interval of three 
years separated the publication of these two 
works, the illustrations of the Yorkshire 
Canary in each were vastly different. In both 
the drawings were quite unlike the winning 
birds of the period, the artists presumably 
sketching from an ideal and not from life. Cer¬ 
tain birds were sent from Yorkshire to the artist 
for Blakston’s great work, I know, but the 
plates given were not portraits of the same. If 
it were otherwise, how comes it that the type 
which breeders are striving to perpetuate to-day 
is that given in this work of nearly thirty years 
back? 
Those of my readers who remember the York¬ 
shire at the time mentioned will, I think, agree 
with me that they were not, except in the imag¬ 
ination of the artist, the fine slim birds which 
were portrayed as representative of the breed 
at that time. The old idea that a Yorkshire 
should pass through a lady’s wedding ring was 
the lofty ideal at which breeders of the day 
aimed but never attained, and this has not 
been attained even by the more keen and scien¬ 
tific breeders of the twentieth century. 
The Influence of the Cinnamon. 
About twenty-five to thirty years ago great 
efforts were made to improve the quality of 
feather in the birds of that day, and much was 
done by the use of the Cinnamon blood, which 
had for some time been used by the breeders 
of evenly-marked Yorkshires, a breed which 
seems to have almost died out. These experi¬ 
ments met with great success, and a change for 
the better was quickly apparent so far as feather 
properties were concerned. Still, the big birds 
held sway, despite the efforts of some who were 
striving even then to reach the wedding-ring 
ideal. 
In those days colour was not thought so much 
of as it was later on, and of the many efforts 
which have been made to work improvement in 
the Yorkshire I remember none which have 
met with more immediate and successful results. 
For several years the champion birds were 
really all that one could desire as far as quality 
of feather was concerned, and even to-dav the 
winning Yorkshires are not upon any higher 
plane so far as this one property is concerned. 
A Run on Size. 
A few years later the size craze again gained 
the upper hand, and with it disappeared much 
of the beautiful silkiness of feather which had 
been produced by the Cinnamon blood. The 
introduction of the K.-N. feeding process had 
also been closely followed by Yorkshire breeders 
trying what they could do to vie with their Nor¬ 
wich brethren in the matter of colour. 
Thus between the fight for colour and that for 
size the feather properties were somewhat lost 
sight of. The birds grew gradually larger and 
stouter, and were reverting to the old Lanca- 
shire-Yorkshire type, fostered in some measure 
by certain judges who were inclined then, as 
some are to-day, to favour size at the expense 
of more valuable properties. 
A Healthy Reaction. 
Everything comes to those who wait. The 
lovers of style and quality had waited long for 
the reaction which came in the closing years of 
the eighties, and culminated in a series of meet¬ 
ings in different parts of the county in the year 
1890. These meetings, which resulted in the 
birth of the Yorkshire Union, roused Yorkshire 
breeders as they had never been roused before. 
They were made to see that they were on the 
wrong tack, and that the large, coarse birds 
were not the beau ideal of what the champions 
of the breed should be. From those meetings 
resulted, as I have said, the Yorkshire Union 
of Ornithological Societies, a Union which 
brought the breeders of the county into closer 
touch with each other, brought about a feeling 
of keener rivalry, yet at the same time did much 
to promote good feeling between the different 
societies constituting the Union. Immediately 
it had settled the formalities connected with its 
institution and constitution, this body turned its 
attention to the drawing up of a standard for 
the different sub-varieties of the breed. This 
gave a great impetus to the breeding of York¬ 
shire Canaries, because all were united in one 
common purpose, and all bound to conform to 
the standard agreed upon. 
The Union to the Fore. 
Much enthusiasm was engendered by the 
work of the Union, shows became better sup¬ 
ported, and fanciers attended in larger num¬ 
bers than they had done before. This led to the 
greater exchange of ideas, with corresponding 
