238 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



staffed as against i'orty-eioiit Evenly- 

 marked, many of whicli liad only very 

 slight ciaiiiis to the title, while sonic did 

 not belong to the class at all : and to-day 

 less attention is apparently ])aid to Evenly- 

 marked Canaries than in 1877, lor while the 

 Clear, Ticked and Variegated birds at the 

 Crystal Palace show in 1910 had increased 

 to more than five times the number of 

 1877, the Even Marks did not reach a 

 dozen. The reason is that most breeders 

 now pay little attention to markings so 

 long as they can breed a l)ir(l that can win. 

 It was not so with the old I'aneiers ol' 

 1877, who knew the value of an Evenly- 

 marked bird too well to allow it to slip 

 through their lingers. They never lost 

 sight of good markings in the pairing of 

 their birds, though they did not pursue 

 their coiu'se long enough to secure their 

 object permanently. We were sinners our- 

 selves in this respect, but of late years 

 have given the subject closer attention, 

 and with most satisfactory results. It is 

 an advantage to the exhibitor to endeavoiu' 

 to breed Evcnly-mai'ked birds, as, through 

 paying careful attention to markings, those 

 bii'ds which are nol Evenly-marked are 

 uiucli more attracli\e than the l'nc\enly- 

 markcd bred in a hajjliazard way, as the 

 marks are neater, and more evenly dis- 

 tributed. Many such neat Unevenly- 

 marked birds were to be seen at our 

 exhibitions thiity years ago. but to-dav 

 most ]\larked birds are of the ordinarx- 

 Vai'iegated l\pe. We are glad. ho\ve\cr. 

 to see liial, of late, in some Narictics. the 

 liorder l-aney. lo wit. the Evenly-marked 

 bird is growing in popular I'aAour, and a. 

 few breeders have given il I heir special 

 alteidion. though we do iiol think the 

 results are as yet so lix("d in I heir eharaeler 

 as Id warraiil our saying Ilia! an\- I'eliable 

 strain has been established. \'rl il' su<'h 

 Evenly-marked birds arc the outcome ol' 

 careful breeding foi' sexeral yeais. and 

 arc paired to others that liaNC been eciually 

 carefully bred, much w ill have been accom- 

 plished, and it is only a ni.-itl( r of following- 

 the system up lo establish the ])oints ex- 

 l)laincd under " Pedigree or Line lireeding." 



As ])roof that in endcavoxu'ing to breed 

 Even ]Marks we improve the neatness of 

 the uneven marks we have onl\ to refer 

 to the classes of Border Eancies for the 

 latter at our shows ; many of them arc 

 almost even, certainly none of them badly 

 marked, as seen in other varieties. Then 

 was a time when the Yorkshire Canary 

 coidd boast of more Even Marks than any 

 other variety, and it played no small 

 part in assisting to establish the good 

 markings in the Border P^ancy of to-day. 

 It is a great ]>ity that the Yorkshire 

 Canary does not hold the proud position 

 to-day it did thirty to forty years ago for 

 good Even Marks, and we hope that some of 

 its admirers may yet be induced to follow 

 those old breeders who made this branch 

 a special study, and bring the Evenly- 

 marked Yorkshire back to the proud 

 position it once held. There is ]ilenty of 

 material to select from, for in this \ariety 

 there are some of the most beautiful of 

 Uneven Marks, both Green and Cimiamon. 

 We know that fi'audvdcnt ])ractiees were 

 much indulged in by some in the old days 

 to make birds appear Even-marked wb.ieh 

 really were not, and that such was not 

 elevating to the hobby, but that is no 

 reason Avhy we should cease to stri\e to 

 breed Evenly-marked bii-ds in a, legitimate 

 way, and at the same time stamp o\d any 

 attempt otherwise with a strong hand. 



In cnunci.'tting a few general i)iineiples 

 which nuisl he observed in living to pro- 

 duce these beautiful birds. 



T^^^ W'c nnist direct the attention 



Necessary ,. . , , i r 



]^2^j.|^g o! Ilie l)reeder to the lact 



that there are some things he 



wa.ids and nnisl haxc, ami other things 



he does not want and ninst ciuleaxour to 



ei'adicatc. lie wants chiclly well loiniid 



and decided eye-marks. I'lvery fancier 



knows the \ahie of these, though it would 



be ei|ually eori'ect to say he does not 



know Iheii- \ahie. for theii' worth cannot. 



be o\ cr-estimatc'd. lie also wants light I \' 



and exactly-marked wings, and he who 



has h.id any experience knows he can brecil 



a hundred good wings ioi' one good eye. 



If we add a correspondingly exact marking 



