232 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



circuiuslanci's sliould cillicr a cock or a lien 

 be put up for double buffing which sliows a 

 superabundance of feather, especially al the 

 thighs. For double yellowing I ahvays select 

 the largest-sized, Heavily-marked cock — one 

 with a good head and very short, thick neck, 

 ;iiid ])lenty of fibre in feather. The hen must 

 also be of good size, not marked so heavily as 

 the cock, and she, too, must be very thick and 

 shorl ill neck and liody. Double yellowing 

 has a tendency to produce young that will 

 look thin and weak in neck unless great care 

 is taken in selecting the stock. From such a 

 pair I once bred a Clear Buff of the best quality 

 I ever saw, and this bird sired some of my 

 best youngsters. 



" Whilst ailmilliiig that good resiills can be 

 obtained by double bulling and double yellowing, 

 yet I am certain thai until a breeder has had 

 a great deal of experience, more certain and 

 better results will be obtained by pairing Buff 

 and Yellow or Yellow and Buff. It is true that 

 freaks will sometimes cro]) uj), and a fair speci- 

 men apjicar from a poor pair ; but to be success- 

 ful always select the best. If good medium- 

 sized birds are paired together, there will be no 

 occasion to double buff to get good bold birds. 

 Weakly or delicate l)irds should never be paired 

 iij), for disa])pointiiieiil is sure to follow." 



]Mr. S. (iill, of Plymouth, anotlicr old 

 Norwich breeder and successful exhibitor, 

 I'lirnishes us with these in- 

 teresting notes : — ■ 



Mr. S. Gill's 

 Advice. 



" In selecting birds for breeding size is not 

 my only consideration ; one must have lype 

 and cpiality. 1 always select birds with good 

 round heads, short neck, full chest, well-lilled- 

 in back, good wing carriage, short legs and 

 tail, as near llie liulllinch tyjic as possible. 

 I believe in pairing \ellow cock and BulT hen, 

 or vice versa, jireferring plenty of substance 

 and colour on the cock's side. I have always 

 found that size and colour arc lietter conveyed 

 fi-oni the cock's side than tile hens. 1 like 

 bens of medium size, but they unisl be full of 

 (jualily and type. As regards inbreeding 1 

 am a firm believer in it, bearing in mind that 

 the birds used for in-breeding are strong and 

 healthy, and as near jicrfeclion as possible. 

 I should not recommend the in-breeding of 

 birds with faulty points, as I fear it would only 

 help to li\ llie bad points. I have practised in- 

 breeding for years with good results, and Ibis 

 year (1910) have jiaired a Ticked Bull brotlur 

 and Clear Yellow sister together, both show 

 specimens. 1 have never found careful in- 

 breeding weaken the birds in any way." 



It sliould be elearly noted by those 

 who adopt in-breeding that Mr. (iill only 

 recommends it as a means to an end — 

 i.e. for fixing points obtained, and that 

 he would not in-breed with raiilty birds. 

 The ease of elose in-breeding which he 

 cites, of pairing brother and sister, was of 

 two birds most perfect in points — in fact, 

 two show birds, which had both won — and 

 this pairing was with a view to fixing 

 these good all-round properties. From 

 these two birds he bred five young, three 

 Yellows and two Buffs, which promised to 

 be quite as good as their parents ; be\-ond 

 this, further description of them could not 

 be given at the time of getting our notes, 

 as they were then dcc]i in moult. 



Mr. Gill writes further : — - 



" I have paired Yellow to Yellow with very 

 good results, I have also double butled with 

 good results, and my partner, Mr. Pethick, has 

 on more than one occasion bred winners from 

 double Buffs. At the same time I do not 

 believe in double buffing, as it tends to shorten 

 the number of Yellows. My past experience 

 has taught me that the best results arc obtained 

 from pairing Yellow to BulT, or vice versa. ,\s 

 regards Cinnamon blood for the improvement 

 of quality of feather I have never tried it, and 

 I feiu- it would be a step in the wrong direction. 

 I have never seen a Cinnamon in this part 

 wilh a head good enough for a Norwich. Be- 

 sides, I <lo not think it at all necessary to intro- 

 duce Cinnamon blood into the Norwich. The 

 ' (Chubby One ' is full of quality in itself, and 

 with careful pairing is, I am sure, quite iiide- 

 ])eii(lenl of all other sources. To retain colour 

 1 ahvays resort to the Green or Meavily-niarked, 

 and breed only from good specimens to retain 

 size." 



Mr. 1-V(d 15cardall. of Iluckiuill lluth- 

 waite, Nottinghamshire, a most success- 

 ful breeder and exhibitor, 

 gives the following experi- 

 ence : — 



Mr. F. Beard 

 all's Notes. 



" I have never used Crest blood with a view 

 to increase size, and I think it would be disastrous 

 for any Norwich breeder to do so. It niighl 

 have been used to advantage some twenty years 

 ago, as Ihe older fanciers tell iiie there were 

 (jcst-breds tlien almost as good in cpiality as 

 Norwich, besides, there was plenly of Yellow 



