2. Self-Cinnamon buff 3. Evenly-marked Cinnamon
-
Named
for the East Anglian Cathedral City of its
birth, the Norwich was among the earliest varieties to be developed in
England. The breed was already the leading exhibition variety before
1850
and it is still shown in large numbers, though long surpassed by
the Border and the Fife. The Norwich evolved at a time when almost
every
region of Britain had its own variety of canary: the Norwich from East
Anglia; the Yorkshire came from that county; the Lancashire (or
Manchester)
Coppy hailed from Lancashire, while the Border straddled the England/
Scottish
boundary.
According toG.T.
Dodwell
a Norwich Convention was called in the 1890s from which the official
'type'
standard emerged. The Norwich is a 'cobby' and thickset bird of about
6.5"
length with a thick neck and a massive head. The birds are colour fed
to
produce a deep and rich orange tone.
Vgt. Yellow. Even Marked Yellow. Clear Buff
-
G.T Dodwell
wrote:
-
"Being
such a heavily-built bird the Norwich has not the agility and
liveliness
of some of the other smaller breeds, but it should still move around
freely
without any suggestion of sluggishness"
Sadly,
as with so many varieties, the craze for bigger and bigger birds, with
denser and denser feather, has produced a modern bird that is a very
poor
reflection of the classic Norwich.
