THE NORWICH CANARY 



213 



Broken Greens, we include those birds 



which, although showing a fair amount of 



light colour, still carry a preponderance of 



the original green in irreg- 



1 V!.*""'?^,^*"^' »l«ir blotches or patches ; 

 gated Class. ^ _ ' 



one condition usually in- 

 sisted on by a number of the old school of 

 breeders in the "sixties was that the bird 

 should not have a " clean breast " — in which 

 case it was said to be " Lightly Variegated."' 

 These distinctions were, however, not recog- 

 nised by some schools of breeders, but they 

 are important as indicating two separate 

 and distinct bars of the coloiu'-ladder, and 

 we regret that more attention is not given 

 to such marking to-day, though it may be 

 merely a form of variegation. In open 

 shows the distinction was seldom acknow- 

 ledged, but the birds were united under 

 the comprehensive term " variegated."" 

 though in clubs where the members under- 

 stood their business (and we are bound in 

 justice to admit that in those days they 

 gave more thought and attention to mark- 

 ings than the majority of the present-day 

 fanciers), an amiual exhibition was held 

 among the members for the purpose of 

 comparing notes. What object-lessons those 

 shows were ! It was usual to keep every 

 link in the colour-chain separate, A 

 Lightly Variegated bird, whilst carrying a 

 clear breast, had to be more or less marked 

 on the back or neck, either or both, inde- 

 pendently of carrying the green on the 

 wings, which was a feature common also 

 to the Heavily Variegated bird, which had, 

 liowever. the marked breast in addition. 



From this brief outline it will be seen 

 that the difference between " Heavily " 

 and "Lightly" variegated was entirely a 

 question of degree, the conditions being 

 the existence of body-marks, and the 

 dividing line the jDresence or absence of a 

 clear breast ; but luider all conditions a 

 Lightly Variegated bird's body shows more 

 light than dark, while the order is just 

 reversed in a Heavily Variegated specimen. 



Such stands good to-day, though no atten- 

 tion is paid as to whether the bird has a 

 clear or marked breast in either form of 

 variegation. The question arises: Would 



it define matters better for the breeder, in 



deciding as to which is a Heavily and 



which a Lightly Variegated 



TheS?para= bird, to adopt the marked 

 tion of the , , , j. 1 c j.- 



■u • o » J ^i^'l clear breast dennition. 



Classes. with other markings as 



described, to distinguish the 

 two classes of variegation ? There has 

 been nnich misunderstanding from time to 

 time on this, and as to what constitutes 

 a ticked bird, and in this way there cer- 

 tainly would then be a definite class of 

 marking for each of the two forms of 

 variegation, the Heavily Variegated having 

 the marked breast and the Lightly Varie- 

 gated possessing the clear. 



The most advanced form of light varie- 

 gation is when the entire bird, including 

 wings and tail, is perfectly 



TicRed" clear with the exception of a 

 Birds. ' 



few dark feathers interspersed 



here and there, or in the form of a grizzly 

 patch on the head, neck, or back ; such 

 feathers usually being not dark from the 

 quill to the end of the web, but grey or 

 grizzly, showing a tendency to an entire 

 fading out of the native green. Wlien a 

 bird shows but one small ]>atch of such 

 dark feathers on any part of the body sur- 

 face, or dark under-fiue onh;, they are known 

 as " ticked " birds. Some club standards 

 admit of more than one small dark patch 

 on a ticked bird, with the result that 

 novices become puzzled, and enter their 

 birds in wrong classes at shows, entirely 

 owing to this difference of definition. Other 

 clubs, in order to avoid this confusion, have 

 added a clause to their rules that a bird 

 witli two small dark patches is not a 

 " ticked " bird, but lightly marked, and 

 must be shown as such. This certainly is 

 a clearer definition, but if it could be 

 universally adopted that a ticked bird is 

 one with one small dark or grizzle patch 

 on any part of the body surface or dark 

 imder-flue, how much better it would be, 

 and the veriest novice coidd not then well 

 make a mistake. 



Such a definition need not in any way 

 interfere with the exhibition of birds with 

 dark under-fiue and a perfectly clear bod\- 



