ir,4 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



is it that in tiio sanic nest, all \vd on the 

 samo diet, (nic hii'd ont ol' three or loni' 

 will sometimes Ije I'onnd to show no eolour ? "" 

 Wliij ? Simply Ijeeause the machinery is 

 defective, and tlie bird wonld have exhi- 

 bited the same deficiency, and in ])reciscly 

 the same degree, on an\' feed. Viewed in 

 I his lio'ht, colonr is nothing- more than the 

 manifestation of certain ])hysiolof!;ical fnnc- 

 tions which \vc can search for and lest by 

 the use of ]iarticnlar food. The de|)osition 

 of colonr is the I'esult of ])ossc'ssing these 

 functions and liavin,L>' them in healthy 

 working oi'der : and by su|)])lying food from 

 which colonr can be secrc'ted, we ascertain 

 which birds have and which have not the 

 ca])aeity of doing that, the manifestation 

 of which constitntes their distinctive cha- 

 racter in a fancier's eye. The ca])sicnm, 

 instead of being tlie enriching agent which 

 has to liide all defects, the cloak to c((\er 

 a nndtitude of sins, really becomes the 

 most reliable guide we have, indicating the 

 character of tlie birds submitted to its 

 test, and showing pretty- clearly the direc- 

 tion in which we shonld look in selecting 

 breeding stock likely to cari'y out to a 

 practical issue the tlieory of like ])i-oducing 

 like in regard to eolour. 



We take our representative bird, then, 

 to illnsti'atc the business of monlting, and 



wc note, first, that wc j)ut it 

 Colour= j,,^ .. ,.^.p,, ,, ,,,,,,^ ^..„,,^. .,^ ^1,^, 



food. • 



age ol seven or eight weeks. 



because it is ncci'ssary I hat I he colimr 

 ])roccss slioiild l)c comnicnccd while the 

 fealhcrs ;ire \'cl in cniliryo. And what is 

 " feed ■" '{ Wc base no dmihl Ihal half .m 

 do/.cii breeders would give as many dif- 

 ferent recipes, but the acli\c agent in all 

 of lluni in I lie early days of colour I'ccd- 

 iiig would ha\c been cavemic pepper, now 

 known b\ laiicicrs under the name <il' 

 " hot Natal pepper." I5ut to-day I he 

 chief coiHlinieiil is .a s|)ecies of llie (■a|)si- 

 cuiii plant. Ilie fi'iiil ol' which. Ilidiigh 

 slightly pungcnl. is (|iiite free I'runi any 

 hcat-gi\iiiL;' pi'o|)ei't ies. I hough il contains 

 a ])owerfiil colouring agent. The know- 

 ledge thus gained by research since those 

 cai'K' da\"s has revolutionised the whole 



cage-bird fancy in the inatt(.'r o! colour 

 I'eeding. yet wc have no richer colour-fed 

 birds to-day than we had in Mr. lilakston's 

 days. In fact, it is (lucstifnied by many 

 old lireeders whether the birds are as deep 

 in tone now. 



After trying tlic fruits of sexcral s|)ecics 

 of capisii-um. dried and ground into the 

 form of pepper, it has been found that the 

 "cold " or ■• sweet red jiepjier " (under which 

 names it is advertised) imparts a splendid 

 colour to the birds" ])lumage equal to that 

 of the hot ])eii})cr. This latter is obtained 

 from a fruit of oblong sha))e. similar to a 

 jieapod. called ('(tjisiviiiii (inniiuin dciniuu- 

 iiliitn, grown extensively in Xatal — hence 

 the name " hot Xatal pe])per "" — while the 

 capsicum fruit from which the cold oi' 

 sweet ])epper is obtained is very like a 

 tomato in sha])e. ^Ve have seen \arions 

 samples of this fruit, some of cpiite a ])ale 

 colour, but those used for colour-food are 

 of a, deeiier, richer shade than a tomato. 

 One of the chief fruits from which the cold 

 pe|)per is produced is Capsicum iinniiiiin 

 L[rn.ss-iini. This has been found to yield a 

 good eoloiu'ing agent, and this colour-food 

 is given in a more humane way than in 

 the early days of its introduction that is, 

 from the casual observer's ])oiut of view ; 

 for, as we j)ointe(l out. the birds ate the 

 hot pe])]ier Iced with such relish and with 

 apparently ni> ill-eiTects that it is still 

 (|ucstionable whether it entailed an\ eniclty 

 on them but there certainly wei-c hard- 

 ships inllietcd by some of the other ingre- 

 dients tried, which, alter all. ga\c little or 

 no I'eMllt . 



'I'lie colour-food can i)c mixed with the 



ordinary clio])i)ed egu' and biscuit or i>rcad- 



cruinbs. or with any ol' the 



How to give ^,,|| |'„„| ,.,,nipositi.)ns of 



Colour=food. I I 1 1 , I 1 1 



wliieh liirds are loud. It 



ma\' also he adniinisl ered by niixing it 

 with ■"cake." made ol' eggs. Hour, and 

 sng.-ir. or an\' similar spongecake I'oiinda- 

 tion. '{"lie |)(|iper slionld be gi\c-n in the 

 propoilioii of one ol' pejiper to t wo of cake, 

 with a small |)ortion of "■ luit Nalal pepper " 

 added, just siillieient to give it a nice 

 warm ll.i\(iur. 'I''lie eaiisicnin. or cold led 



