226 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



clciir. but the tendency is dcciilcd, iind the 

 direction oi' each succeeding- season will ))e 

 towards perfect and complete uniforniity 

 of colour if everything of a contrary 

 character be excluded. But, with this 

 ])lan, depth of colour will certainly decline. 

 This then, evidently, is not what we want 

 to be at, and the inference is plain that 

 we have begun at the wrong end. We 

 have selected parents in which are con- 

 centrated the tendencies of generations 

 of families all bred and selected for the one 

 purpose of getting rid of the native green, 

 Avhich is, perhaps, only one form of the 

 paler colour we call yellow ; and we have 

 been pushing this tendency still further, 

 and paling our birds still more. In fact, 

 we have begun just whci-e we ought to 

 have left ofT ; our colours have been care- 

 fully blended and toned down till the re- 

 quired shade has been obtained, and to 

 maintain this we cannot dilute further 

 w'ithout loss, which must be replenished 

 from some source or other. We will go 

 to the fountain for it, and remark that it 

 may be laid down as a maxim worth 

 remembering that a breeder of high-class 

 Norwichs should never be without a good 

 Green bird in his I'oom : not a dull, flat, 

 smoky-looking Bulf, but a brilliant Green, 

 in itself a beautiful bird, which we will for 

 our present purpose consider in its character 

 of a colour-fountain. \\c do not say to 

 beginners, commence with Greens and plod 

 on ])atiently till they break ; that might 

 never be — though never is a longtime — but 

 it would certainly be a tedious ])rocess, and 

 more especially if llic (Jreens coine from a 

 fixed strain not nuich gix'cn to sporting. 



It is. therefore, eminently desirable thai 

 sonictliiiig should he known of llic eonstit- 



ucnl elements of the mateii:il 

 Knowledge ^^.j,,, „.,,i , j^ ■ p,.,,,,,,^^.^ ,„ 

 of Pedigree. ' ' 



work. A good (Jreen will often 



Ijc thrown by parents Ihemselvcsvery lightly 

 variegated, and well advanced in the journe\- 

 u]) the Hill Dilllcully. It is natural that such 

 a bird should occasionally present itself, as 

 the eradication of the dark self-colour is 

 not accomplished without an elToi't and a 

 struggle on both sides ; and such are \aluc(l 



aceoi'dingly as Ihcy emanate from a branch 

 of a family more or less remote from a 

 known starting-point. Greens bred inmie- 

 diately from Greens may, as we have 

 indicated, be reluctant to produce anything 

 else, and may hesitate before they unlock 

 the door of the warehouse containing their 

 wealth of colour ; but a Green thrown by 

 comparatively light parents is, in most 

 cases, almost running over with colour, 

 which seems only seeking an outlet to 

 dilTuse itself through many channels, all 

 of which it will tinge with something of 

 its own brilliancy. Mixed with itself, it 

 probably would have a tendency to become 

 more fixed, but poured out upon the rich 

 yellow or equally rich buff of a Clear strain, 

 it adds to their lustre, and infuses fresh, 

 vigorous, colour-blood. This is called 

 " taking a dip into the Greens," and the 

 benefits to be derived are in proportion as 

 we dip into the right kind of green at the 

 right time and in the right ivai/. 



Of course a Variegated bird (providing 

 it possesses the necessary rich Ijrilliant 

 colour) will answer equally well to pair 

 with a strain that have been Clear bred 

 for generations, 7iot descendants of Greens 

 of the j)revi()us year. This fact must 

 never be lost sight of, as a Ticked bird, or 

 even a Clear not far removed from the 

 Green, is more suitable to pair with a 

 bird of immediate Green descent that yet 

 lacks depth of colour, which the breeder 

 wishes to strengthen. Every breeder should 

 know the nature of the material in his 

 ]K)ssession, for every bird in his room 

 should represent to him sonutliing more 

 than it would to a casual observer. lie 

 knows what it is made of and \\hat it 

 holds as plainly as if it were a glass |)hial 

 (liil\- labelled ^vith the registered slringlh 

 of its contcnls. It is to an inlclligcnt 

 mail ol this kind that we should apjily for 

 our [list |)air of birds ; and, whatever else 

 we got, \vc would take care that at any 

 lalc we did our best to i)e supplicfl with 

 tubes from which pure colour could be 

 extracted by careful manipulation, rather 

 than with empty ones which had been 

 s(pKc/.cd dry. 



