qo 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND RRITISH BIRDS 



iMislied into breeding ]\I:ii'k((l hirds in :i 

 blind faith in the liive-prochieing-iike creed 

 will admit that we have not one whit 

 exagoerated its diilicidties, nor made one 

 mole-hill into a mountain. \\c know only 

 too well what it means and how it is usually 

 set about : and though a slice ot luck may 

 occasionally accompany a turn of the 

 wheel of fortune, or nearly the whole 

 hand turn up trumps, yet we know how 

 hit-or-miss breeding ends in the long-run. 

 This carefully-selected stock will require 

 equally careful pairing ; and in doing so 

 we should, at starting, make colour a 

 secondary consideration — that is, we should 

 not for one moment allow any rule as to 

 pairing Yellow and Buff, or vice iwrsn. to 

 interfere with our main olijcct. which is 

 marking. If we found the necessary corn- 

 binations existing in the o])]iositc forms 

 of colour, well and gofxl. Init we should 

 not be diverted from our purpose for the 

 sake of keeping up perfection of colom- or 

 feather. We fully recognise the truth that 

 " extremes arc dangerous," and woidd 

 certainly do our utmost to maintain these 

 desirable requisites : but it is marking 

 we want, and marking we must have — 

 note the " nuist '"- with colour, if ])ossil)ie, 

 but mai'king at all events. And licaring 

 in mind that wiiilc wc arc endeavouring, 

 liy mating marks, to concentrate in one 

 channel the tendency to produci' tiuni, 

 as we are, at the same time, concentrating 

 two forms of d(\cl()|)mcnt of native Green 

 or C'imiainon, we siiould l)e very careful 

 to avoid |)airing two IIca\ ily-mai'kid birds, 

 lest the combinnt ion of two shcams of 

 (irecn or Cinnamon blootl, as the ease might 

 be, should cause an overllow on the body ; 

 wc would male a Ileavily-niarkcd hen 

 with a Clear cock, and vicf rcr-'<(i.. Ilu- 

 Clear being bred from the technically or 

 I'ivcnh-markcd slock. This is an cxccllcnl 

 ])lan with birds from an estaijlished stock 

 when there is a tciKlency to gel too hca\v 

 markings; the Clcai' bird reduces the 

 weight of marking in the (>ITsi)rini;. Here 

 wc could mate \'cllow and HnlT. and main 

 t:iin colour and fcallicr. Very lightly- 

 marked birds wc would pair : but not 



ir both had dark legs, or wi' should not 

 be astonished to find a speedy rivcrsiim 

 to heavy variegation. 



Birds with eye-nuirks only wc would 

 couple occasionally, as they require more 

 nursing to maintain than wing-marks. 

 We woidd also ]iair an only eye-marked 

 ]nrd to one with wing marks. You tlun 

 have in the two birds the cond>ination of 

 a desirable Even ]Mark. An odd wing is 

 very apt to be repeated. l)\it knowing how 

 certainly hea%y wings will j)rodnce wluit 

 we do not want, we woidd prefer one wing, 

 if containing only three or four dark 

 feathers, and run the chnnee of getting a 

 neat Y by pairing it to a bird with the 

 opposite wing marked in a similar manner 

 and the eyes marked on one or bt)th birds. 



We should not be disappointed if we 

 obtained a lot of odd wings, piovided they 

 were neat : on the contrary, wc should be 

 |)leased, as it would indicate some tendency 

 towards fixity, and we would wnit patiently 

 for duplicate marks, ^^■e should never 

 expect to produce accurate marking in 

 any quantity, aiul should be more than 

 satisfied if we sini|)ly hchl our groimd. 

 To do tli:it would be \irtually to advance, 

 for one step uuidc good means protecting 

 om- icai'. and security from retrogression. 



The illusl r:i.l ion on i)age 2~H rej)rescnts 

 an expanded wing, in which the six 

 inner llights alone are dark, 

 the larger and smaller 

 covci'ts. :is well as the bastard llights 

 altiH'hed to Ihc Ihunil), ;dl being clear. 

 'I'his may be accei)lcd as a perfect wing 

 from a laneicr's point of \ii-w. There are 

 one or two Icalures in the formation of 

 llu' wing wcniliy of nole. \\'lu'n expanded 

 to its full exteid it will be seen that the 

 marginal outline formed by the extremities 

 of the feathers is pi'actieally a straight line : 

 (lie sl.alk or inidiab of Ihc onlcr llights is 

 close lo the oulcr edge of the feather, and 

 Ihc ends of Ihesc feathers are i)ointed : 

 but as wc |)roe(-'cd towards Ihc iinici' |)orli(in 

 of the winii the midrib is loiind nearer and 

 neai'cr the centre of llie web. the dark 

 fealhcrs are fringed with a lighter margin, 

 and Ihc exirc-mit i(.s alter in shape from 



Wing MarKs. 



