2l6 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



be of no viikie, because sucli iiiarkiiig is 

 imariably accompanied by so uiueh ol' a 

 detractive character tliat the value of the 

 whole woidd be subtractivc instead of 

 positive ; indeed, it is by common consent 

 tacitly agreed that a dark tail constitutes 

 '■ varieoation." and not " marking,'" be- 

 cause the absence of light feathers in the 

 mi(klle destroys the idea of a clean run 

 from stem to stern, with the marking on 

 each side. When the clean run is obstructed, 

 above or below, the marking ceases and 

 becomes variegation, and this criterion 

 api>lies as much to the head as to the tail. 



It will be plain that " marking '' is a 

 question of locality, and that there are but 

 six places in M-hich marks can i>ossibly 

 exist : elsewhere they are not marks. The 

 perfection of marking consists in evenness 

 and exactness - two separate and distinct 

 things, though the latter idea is included 

 in the former. Nothing is more connnon 

 than to hear that a certain bird is ui)t 

 evenly marked, liecause one wing or one 

 eye mark is heavier than the other ; but 

 if it be marked on ((tvh wing or each eye it 

 is evenly marked, although the marking 

 may be so irregular and badly balanced as 

 to lay but small claim to be called exact. 

 To be exact, the marks should correspond 

 in shape and feather, one side of the bird 

 being the countcri>art of the other. It 

 may seem umicccssary lo have to explain 

 lliis. but. simjile as the thing is. a mis- 

 apprehension as to the meaning of the 

 lernis gives rise to ncai'ly as nuicli niis- 

 uuderstaudiiig as the " ticked '" ([uestion 

 already referred to. 



Uneven marking should (Icliiie itself: but 



thai there may be no mistake, we say that 



a bird with only one eye or 



Uneven wing or one side of the 



Marking. ^ 



tail marked, is unevenly 



marked; or, lo ]>ut the definition in a 



concise form, if any one of the three Tuai'ks 



is not repeated on the othci' siiic the bird 



is unevenly marked. A three-pointed bii-d 



may have both eyes marked and one wiiig. 



or vice versa, or a li\ c pouilcd bird may 



have both eyes marked, both wings, and 



one side of the tail, or both sides of the 



tail, both wings and one eye. Such mark- 

 ings are of connnon occurrence. .Such birds 

 are not technically " Variegated." because 

 there is the absence of the necessary body- 

 marks : but inasmuch as they caimot win 

 in a class in which the desideratum is 

 evenness, they are allowed to be shown in 

 the " Variegated " class by sinking the 

 technical character of their markings and 

 eonsideiing them as of no value, and thus 

 allowing them to compete with the irregu- 

 larly-]Med l)irds, whose variegations also 

 are of no value, on the connnon ground of 

 cokjur, ((uality, condition, and all other 

 good properties except marking. This 

 grouping, though sometimes convenient, 

 is not defensible on any other ground 

 excej)t convenience- not always the safest 

 foundation on which to build : and a 

 very little inquiry into the character of 

 the s|iecial feature of each of these two 

 classes will show the truth of our position. 

 The biids are representatives of different 

 classes, to begin with, and have been lired 

 with dilTerent objects in view. The one 

 must l)e considered as approximating elosel\' 

 to that standard of excellence which con- 

 sists in the entire absence of body-marks 

 and the retention of those representing 

 evenness and exactness, to retain and lix 

 which has been Ihr aim of all others, in the 

 prosecution of which the production of 

 colour has had to give way in some instances 

 ;is i)eing only secondary in the endeavour 

 to produce e\eu markings. The other 

 represents a class in which marking or 

 \ariegation of any kind is \alneless. as 

 such, and only exists as evidence of an 

 admixture of the native green element 

 essential to lh<- (l(\clo|)incnl of colour. 



The result of mixing u|) tlu'sc unlike 



things in one competition, as was done 



years ago when colour 



The Old and was the ruling ))assion. 



New Methods „.,,, ,1,.,, , i„. ,|||,.vcnly 



in ;i r k e (I bird h a d no 

 chance ol winning on a 

 coloui' basis in wlial was essentially a 

 colour class, a thing which ought not to 

 be : while, if it did happen to win by sheer 

 force of sympathy, on account of it being 



of Classic 

 fication 



