202 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



iind even those whieh are not will show 



an evident tendeney to breed five-toed 



l)irds. We have aecnnudated into one 



direction — that ol' prodneino- five toes — the 



transmitted powers of hvo general ions— 



parents and grandparents. 11 we l)rced 



I'roni this third generation again, still 



selecting five-toed individuals, the tendency 



to produce the peculiarity will be increased 



enormously, and in a generation or two 



more a bird not five-toed will be as rare 



as the five-toed specimens originally were. 



^Ve have now what is called a strain, so 



I'ar as regards this one point of five toes ; 



that is, we have produced a race of birds 



which we can depend upon with almost 



absolute certainty to j)roduce nothing but 



five-toed bii'ds. . . . The first pair have 



scarcely any tendeney that can be ivlicd 



ii])on to produce the desired five toes : tiic 



other pair can be depended upon as regards 



nearly every one. The first pair presents 



nothing to a breeder save the foundation 



ujion which he may, by care and jicrscver- 



auce. found a structure hereafter : the other 



rejjresents work fully done, and a " strain 



wOiich, as regards the one point we ha\e 



considered, is perfected and established, 



and only needs ordinary care to preserve 



in the same perfection for an unlimited 



length of time." 



^Ir. Wright, in this clear and concise 



dcscTiption of work begun and accom- 



plisiied. illustrates the result 

 Inbreeding. . . , ,. „ , . 



ol the mbrcedmg ol relatives, 



but he does not suggest the mating of birds 



simj)ly because they are related. He merely 



cites a case wlu'rc a \a,i'iation from the usual 



type a])])eared, one that might almost he 



called an individual variation, as it was 



so long since thci'c was any sign in the 



stock of a tendency to fiv'c toes, and having 



no material at hand possessing the feature 



he desired to |)erpetuatc exce|)t the stock 



from which this bird sprang, he had 



necessarily to inbreed. l'"or the fancier to 



pair two relati\'es together in order to ])ro- 



ducc poiiils which ncillur possesses, nor 



have shown any Icndcncy to develop, is the 



height of absurdity. Yet we ha.\'c met 



breeders who ha\c been foolisli cnougli to 



do so, led away by the craze for "" iubi'ccd- 

 ing '' through mistaken notions as to the 

 real object of mating relatives -viz. the 

 fixing and perhaps accentuating certain 

 known characteristics in a strain. 



That most skilful breeder, Sir .John 

 Sebright, used to say with respect to 

 pigeons, " that by selection he would ])ro- 

 duce any given feather in three years, but 

 that it would take him six years to obtain 

 head and beak." 



Even in a state of nature the evidence we 

 have adduced proves beyond doubt that se- 

 lection leads the way, and that the mating of 

 wild creatures possessing the same character- 

 istics in a greater or lesser degree is not the 

 outcome of relationship, but rather the 

 natural instinct of adaptation for each 

 other, which is their controlling power. 



Inbreeding, no doubt, goes on to a eon- 

 siilerable extent under natural conditions, 

 but such a system cannot be safely 

 carried on indefinitely with domesti- 

 cated stock, such as Canaries. There is 

 not with birds in captixity the natural 

 law as to the survival of the fittest, 

 and hence with close inbrcctling under 

 these artificial conditions a slight taint 

 in related i)arents becomes emphasised 

 and fixed in a few generations of in- 

 breeding with close-blooded relatives, 

 and physical weakness and deterioration 

 result. Hence, in proihicing such pro- 

 pci'ties as are desired in our stock, close 

 brcctliug should nc\'cr be ca.i'ricd so far as 

 to i)i-oducc evils of this class, but must 

 be modified so as to ])revent them. 



On this account it is necessary to pro- 

 \ ide at the outset several pairs of birds to 

 form the ancestors of our stock in older to 

 ;i\<iid any necessity for a cross out until the 

 new strain is thoroughly blended togi'tlier, 

 and the desired j)roperties established. 



This is all-important to everyone who 

 means to ha\'e a " strain "" of his own. not 

 only for the general reasons 

 Difficulty of alrcadv given, but to avoid the 

 Breeding • '. ,.1 1 



to Points danger of unwitriugly drop- 



|)ing the " link in succession."' 

 which wx' h.i\c seen to be so im|)ortant. .Vs 

 an example of this we selected the produe- 



