204 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



of Crested Norwich to have been earerully 

 bred, but one to have been bred first foi- 

 featlier and al'terwards for crest, wliile 

 tiie otlier was bred first for crest and after- 

 wards for feather : the result of crossino' 

 two siicli strains would be that many of 

 tlic progeny wouhl throw back to the first 

 or faulty points of both. Hence it is 

 important that the outcross selected should 

 not only be good and have been carefully 

 bred, but also be the produce of a similar 

 course of breeding to the birds with which 

 it is to l)e mated; unless it be some 

 characteristic — such, for instance. as 

 '•swagger,'" also called '"l^recd."" in a 

 Yorkshire Canary, which is the [H'oduct of 

 a foreign cross. It will thus be seen what 

 an advantage there is in knowing some- 

 thing <if the true pedigree of any new bird 

 introduced to a strain. 



Pedigree, unless backed uj) by good 

 development of the property desired, is, 

 of course, useless, and it is obvious that 

 the surest way of securing what we want 

 is to obtain our stock from a breeder who 

 can show both, and has what we shall call, 

 for the want of a better word, a " stock 

 corner '" in the breeding room, from which 

 to (lra\s' liuililiug material as necessity 

 i-((iuires. and who can tell pretty nearly 

 the latent tendencies of each bird therein. 



It is ill this way. also, that we secure 



the advantages of an intelligent ]>l;iii. or a 



(lelinite object steadily |)iii-- 



J,^^ , sued wilhoiil liie evils of 



Necessity for . 



a Record. ni-breeding. 11 three st rams 



have been started from 

 tlu'ce nearly-allied and simihir ])airs of 

 birds, and I lie same phm of breeding pur- 

 sued willi .-ill. I lie ad\anlages of a cross 

 can he li;i(l for m.iiiy generations, wiMioiil 

 its e\ils. by keeping a record of pedigrees.* 

 \VI)ere another must breed together brother 

 and sister, or else resort to a foreign cross, 

 a breeder thus armed e;in t:ike a i>ii(l <iiil 



* 'rite liri'cdiini Kcnirit. pulilislicd hy Ciinuru 

 and ('.(Kjc-liinl l.i/r, London, is :iii cxecllciil 

 rcgislcr foi' kccpiiif^ pi'dij^rees. II is iinippcil oiil 

 in sueli a i)laiii. concise way llial llu- nicicsl 

 novice in (Canary l)rcc(liiig cannot well err in 

 fcccpiiig a Iruc record of lii.s slocli. 



The Case of 

 the Lizard 

 Canary. 



of one of his other families, or " stock 

 cornel'."" as the ease may necessitate, which 

 in the course of breeding has ai'rivcd at 

 ]jreeisel\' the same point, and will ])roduce 

 similar effects, yet with nearly all the 

 advantages of a cross. 



In following out the extracts on '' Pedi- 

 gree Breeding " to their conclusion, as 

 indicating the general ])rin- 

 ciples on which the breeder 

 should act. we take, as the 

 illustration for the final 

 quotation, the Lizard Canary, as best 

 exemplifying the admirable instructions 

 given by the late Lewis Wright for " com- 

 mencing any strain or race in which faun/ 

 points are the chief object sought."" The 

 fancy ])oint in this case is distinctive 

 character or marking in indixidmil feathers, 

 and is nearly on a ])ar with that assumed 

 by Mr. Wright in establishing the fifth 

 toe in a strain of fowls, the modus operandi 

 is nearly identical, the prineij)le involved — 

 and that is what we are here considering — 

 absolutely so ; and we will su|)pose the 

 object desired is to found a strain of well- 

 spangled Lizards. '' AVe would jtrovide, 

 then, for breeding several hens perfectly 

 spangled. If we could only alford a cou|)le 

 of such birds we wonkl rather have them 

 than a, dozen even only a little worse in 

 this (|iiality, since every shade «o;i' saves 

 miieh tronl)lc afterwards. We wish espe- 

 cially to show the folly of this fai' too 

 common plan, which stands in the way of 

 success with scores of amateurs. .Snp- 

 |)(ising the enek to \>c n well-bred bird, it 

 is: \ery likely he may ' 1 hi'ow " some well- 

 sp.angled Xdiiiiii' ones from these pool- iiirds : 

 and many ])co|)le think this is a gain. To 

 a certain extent, and in a cci'tain sense, it 

 is; whei'e the |)oeket will not permit the 

 procuring of the best it is the only resort, 

 though a, longer road, and from a l)rccder"s 

 point i<\ \ iew it is a. serious loss of time 

 and ground gained, and " jjuts back " the 

 strain, since if these birds in turn are i)red 

 from lliey " llinnc ' Ixick lo the poor jxireiil. 

 Of course the cocks will also be sek'cfcd 

 with all |M-aelieal care. I'rom such pairs, 

 breeding (Jiihj fnnii well-spangled birds. 



