BREEDING THE NORWICH CANARY 



231 



noticing of results each season, and a 

 ■weeding out oi' such birds as show no 

 progress. 



It is the attention to such details, and 

 the surmounting of the obstacles met with, 

 which yield the chief pleasures of the 

 breeding-room. 



Northampton has long been a strong- 

 hold of Norwich breeders, and Mr. T. 

 Irons of that town has 

 Mr. Irons on y^^.^^^ .^^^^^ exhibited the 

 Breeding. 



Norwich Canarj' success- 

 fully for over forty years. Writing of his 

 breeding experience, this fancier says : — ' 



" I have tried various ways of pairing, double 

 bufTing and double yellowing, but not to excess. 

 In the early days before Cayenne feeding was 

 in vogue I bred for colour, and the best that 

 I ever produced was when I took a cross from 

 the I^ondon Fancy with my Norwich. The 

 colour of the young was simply marvellous. 

 I bred one real good Norwich from two Buffs 

 about tliirteen or fourteen years ago. It was 

 a ' topper,' but unfortunately for me the bird 

 was stolen from a show. NMien pairing up 

 I always study size. I like a bit of this in my 

 breeding stock, both in cocks and hens, and I 

 also like them light in feather. From such 

 pairing I usually have good results, and have 

 bred most good birds from Bull cocks and 

 Yellow hens. 1 have not tried a Cinnamon 

 cross with my Norwich ; I prefer a good Green 

 for improving colour, and like a bronze shade 

 of green, as from this I have got rich Yellows, 

 and the Buffs have been beautifully mealed 

 over a rich under colour." 



I\Ir. E. Baker, of Cowes, Isle of Wight, 

 another well-known breeder and exhibitor, 

 writes : — 



" When selecting my 

 Mr. E. BaRer's Stock for breeding I always 

 Experience. try to pick out the best. 



I do not believe in putting 

 a big, indifferent cock to a little, good hen, or 

 vice versa, for, depend upon it, tfie bad points 

 of the big, indifferent cock will predominate 

 over the good points of the little hen. Experi- 

 ence lias taught me tliat the more perfect the 

 stock birds are the better the results. Many 

 fanciers say that show birds do not always 

 produce show yoiuigsters. True ; but f venture 

 to say that the progeny of two reafly good 

 show birds will produce a far greater percentage 

 of sfiow specimens than of those f have previously 

 mentioned. I like birds of good medium size. 



the nearer perfection in tyi)e, quality, and 

 colour the better. If a good Yellow lightly 

 Variegated cock, with a good head, short flights 

 and tail, with a good bold front, teeming, if 

 possible, with colour, be paired to a good bold, 

 lively Buff hen, with type and quality, the 

 former must be especially conspicuous if good 

 results are to be attained. If the hen be a 

 Clear, or if the cock is only very lightly marked 

 a Clear BufI lien, bred from tightly marked 

 parents, can be used with good result. 



" I like colour in stock. Many say that 

 colour should not count too much, but it docs, 

 and will count. Let three birds of equal merit 

 for type and quality be placed side by side 

 for judging, and let one be of good colour, and 

 the other two indifferent in colour, and it 

 would be a poor judge who would not put the 

 best coloured one first, and rightly so, as in 

 many cases colour means quality. Try how 

 you will you cannot get colour in a harsh, coarse- 

 teatliered bird. 



" My reason for selecting good medium- 

 sized birds is, that as a rule they are more 

 lively. I like to see them go from perch to 

 perch, full of life and energy, and these pro- 

 perties are not frequentiy found in big, lieavy 

 birds. Nothing pleases the judge's eye more 

 than to see a ' tip top ' specimen looking the 

 very essence of health and activity. liqually 

 good results can be obtained by pairing Buff 

 cocks to Yellow hens in the same way as 1 have 

 described for Yellow cocks and Buff hens. 

 Whatever you breed from let the stock be the 

 best. Should colour be lacking, select the best 

 heavily-marked Yellow cock, and pair to a 

 Buff hen bred from Variegated parents ; the 

 progeny from these should be either very 

 heavily marked or quite Green, what the 

 Norwich breeder calls stock birds, for the 

 breeding-room. By Greens I mean a rich 

 Bronze Green, not what is called ' Liverpool 

 Green.' Almost all fanciers know what is 

 meant by a Bronze Green. Pair the young from 

 the Variegated pair to Clears that have been 

 bred from Clear birds ; should there be very 

 Lightly-marked birds from the Variegated pairs, 

 put tliem to Lightly-marked mates, in this way 

 one can intensify colour to a very marked 

 degree. 



" We are living in an age when size seems in 

 great demand, and suggestions for obtaining 

 such are given by many fanciers. Of these 

 doubtless the most popular is double bufhng. 

 This can be resorted to at times with good 

 results, but I should strongly advise novices 

 not to try it. The experienced breeder can 

 select a good Lightly-marked Buff cock of good 

 medium size, with good soft, sifky feather ; 

 the hen also should be of good medium size, 

 well mealed, but very tight in feather. In no 



