MOULTING ON COLOUR-FOOD 



159 



while all the time taking infinite pains to 

 conceal the necessary adjvnict — jeed. 



The line of policy, therefore, adopted by 



the discoverer of the new thin<>', the 



miraculous feed, was only 



A Curious .jj^ extension of the svstcni 



Situation. 1 • 1 1 " i 1 



oi morality m which he had 

 been educated. By ignoring the existence 

 of tlie true agent, however, it will be seen 

 that he laid himself open to the suspicion 

 of foul play, which was .strengthened by 

 the then remarkable feature of his birds 

 being, as we have already said, of two 

 colours — not two shades of one and the 

 same colour, mark you. but, as asserted, two 

 distinct colours — viz. yellow, and a shade 

 of yellow it is true, but with a distinctly 

 green tint, which it was at once affirmed 

 was the consequence of unskilful cUjeing. 

 And really it looked funny. Fanciers who 

 knew that the best show-birds were the 

 exceptional specimens selected from large 

 numbers, and who were content to produce 

 one or two in a season, would not have 

 it at any price that a dozen could come 

 out of one breeding-room, and from the 

 same pair of birds in one year, much less 

 five or six stars out of one nest, as was 

 alleged of these extraordinary specimens. 

 But the existence of the two colours on 

 the same bird was the pill no one could 

 swallow, and it was all adjudged a 

 fraud. Every breeder, however, now knows 

 that this appearance arose simply from 

 the presence of feathers which had grown 

 before the birds had been put on the colour- 

 producing diet, which, even in the very 

 best specimens, appeared absolutely green 

 beside the rich, ruddy orange now so 

 common. But our friend in Suttou-in- 

 Ashfield kept his own counsel, and was 

 content to sit and grin and bear the 

 sneers of a virtuous world, strong in his 

 own integrity. We have said this occurred 

 in 1871 ; but we have reason to believe 

 that birds fed in this way had been ex- 

 hibited one or two years in succession 

 at one of our largest shows, and had been 

 disqualified on the ground of l>eing arti- 

 ficially coloured by means of outward 

 applications, and that the original dis- 



coverer pocketed the opprobrium and 



bided his time. 



Tiie late Mr. W. A. Blakston related that 



his first introduction to these birds was 



at Cheltenham, where he 



^^'''y . was iudging the same vear. 



txpenences. j o o 



"At that time," he wrote, 

 "their fame had not reached us, but 

 one or two of them were sent to 

 Cheltenham, and one, we well remem- 

 ber, a heavily Variegated Buif bird, 

 beat a large class. We were attracted 

 by its extraordinarily rich colour, which 

 fairl>' took away our breath ; Jjut an 

 examination sliowed us sure indications 

 of its genuineness, and we gave our award 

 unhesitatingly." 



Mr. Blakston further related that at a 

 show which was held shortly afterwards 

 he was solicited to exhibit. The usual 

 clause in the rules, that "all specimens 

 shall l)e bona fide the property of the 

 exhibitor," was purix)sely expunged, and 

 a silver cup held out as an induceiuent for 

 large entries ; and six of the then notorious 

 Sutton-in-Ashfield birds appeared in the 

 catalogue in Mr. Blakston's name. Some 

 of his best friends — and one in particular, 

 whose name will appear presently, a gentle- 

 man who subsequently became the cham- 

 pion of the new school, and who, with 

 him, fought its battle and won — severely 

 censured him for having anything to do 

 with these dangerous birds. The judges, 

 however, were satisfied with them, and 

 they were duly gazetted winners. Then 

 came the dinuuement. The committee, 

 in the fullness of their zeal, tested (?) the 

 birds in a way jierfectly unjustifiable, 

 literally scrubbing off the web of the 

 feathers in one bird's tail, leaving it with 

 twelve almost naked quills ; and shortly 

 after charged Mr. Blakston formally with 

 having exliibited painted birds, at the 

 same time producing, as evidence, a hand- 

 kerchief which was alleged to be stained 

 with the colouring matter from this muti- 

 lated tail. It is not necessary to refer to 

 the amusing incidents of the protest, but 

 the following copy of a certificate Mr. 

 Blakston obtained from an analytical 



