ightly varied with
brighter hues, although never attaining the beautiful plumage of the
domestic bird. It was first domesticated in Italy during the 16th
century, and soon spread over Europe, where it is now the most common of
cage-birds. During the years of its domestication, the canary has been
the subject of careful artificial selection, the result being the
production of a bird differing widely in the colour of its plumage, and
in a few of its varieties even in size and form, from the original wild
species. The prevailing colour of the most admired varieties of the
canary is yellow, approaching in some cases to orange, and in others to
white; while the most robust birds are those which, in the dusky green
of the upper surface of their plumage, show a distinct approach to the
wild forms. The least prized are those in which the plumage is
irregularly spotted and speckled. In one of the most esteemed varieties,
the wing and tail feathers are at first black--a peculiarity, however,
which disappears after the first moulting. Size and form have also been
modified by domestication, the wild canary being not more than 5-1/2 in.
in length, while a well-known Belgian variety usually measures 8 in.
There are also hooped or bowed canaries, feather-footed forms and
top-knots, the latter having a distinct crest on the head; but the
offspring of two such top-knotted canaries, instead of showing an
increased development of crest, as might be expected, are apt to be bald
on the crown. Most of the varieties, however, of which no fewer than
twenty-seven were recognized by French breeders so early as the
beginning of the 18th century, differ merely in the colour and the
markings of the plumage. Hybrids are also common, the canary breeding
freely with the siskin, goldfinch, citril, greenfinch and linnet. The
hybrids thus produced are almost invariably sterile. It is the female
canary which is almost invariably employed in crossing, as it is
difficult to get the females of the allied species to sit on the
artificial nest used by breeders. In a state of nature canaries pair,
but under domestication the male bird has been rendered polygamous,
being often put with four or five females; still he is said to show a
distinct preference for the female with which he was first mated. It is
from the others, however, that the best birds are usually obtained. The
canary is very prolific, producing eggs, not exceeding six in number,
three or four times