THE GREEN CANARY 



249 



the \'ariegated Norwich, and I obtained sonic 

 typical Norwicli Greens, but tliey failed in size. 

 A feature of tliis cross is that the green offspring 

 are, as a rule, smaller than their variegated 

 parents. From two Variegated Norwich 1 

 bred what I consider was the best Norwich 

 Green that has graced the show bench, but it 

 failed in size, and with two exceptions had to 

 take second place to a bird that beat it in this 

 respect. One of these exceptions was al tlic 

 Welsh National Show, Swansea, wliere it took 

 first prize. 



'■ The Cinnamon cross has been the most 

 useful to me ; by it we gain quality and size, 

 although we lose a little in colour at first, and 

 are apt to get long-sided birds with weak heads. 

 I find Ihc Cinnamon hen to be the best for the 

 purpo.se ; but tlie one selected must be as 

 chubby and as short in wings and tail as possible. 

 The Norwich Green which won the Diploma at 

 the London Cage Bird Association's Show, 

 held at I he Horticultural Hall, Westminster, 

 1909, was bred from a Variegated Green cock 

 paired to a Buff Cinnamon hen. The BufT cock 

 wliich won first and special at the Scottish 

 National Show in 1908-9 was bred in a like 

 manner, and, what is more, a son of this last 

 bird won first and a similar special in 1909-10. 

 These results prove the worth of Cinnamon 

 blood if used with care. 



" Crossing with the Crest has not been of 

 much service to me ; what has been gained in 

 size and coloiu' has been more than lost by 

 undesirable features in the young, such as coarse 

 feather, long wings, tail, and sides, and flat 

 heads. 



" I am a great believer in inbreeilinu, and 

 consider it is the only way to make a definite 

 strain ; but the birds must be suitable for in- 

 breeding. Birds to be inbred must have some 

 particular point of excellence which the l)reeder 

 wishes to establish ; not only this, there must 

 not be any really weak points, because if there 

 are these weak points would be established as 

 ■well as the strong one. 



" To sum up my experience, I should say to 

 the beginner in breeding Norwich Greens: Start 

 with the ready-made article, getting the best 

 possible birds that the purse will allow, then, 

 by selection, careful attention to matching, 

 and judicious inbreeding, endeavour to produce 

 belter birds than those started with. I may 

 conclude by saying that these notes have 

 been written chiefly to aid the beginner ; but 

 if by chance they prove of benefit to older 

 fanciers the pleasure of having written them 

 will be all the greater." 



Mr. Thomas Harrison, ot Altrincham, 

 another most successful breeder of the 

 32 



Xorwicli type Green, to whom we are in- 

 debted for the following interesting notes 

 on the breeding of tliis varietv, savs : 



" During the last few years the Norwich 

 Green has made good strides towards the shape 

 of the Clear or Ticked Norwich, 

 Mr. Thos. '"I'l compares very favourably 

 Harrison on with the wiiuiers on the show 

 Norwich bench to-day. The method of 



Greens. pairing should be carefully 



thought out before commencing 

 the breeding season ; success on the show 

 bench more often than not depends upon this 

 important point ; never pair up al random. 

 The method 1 usuallj" adopt is as follows : 

 Self Yellow cock, Self Bufl' hen. No. 1 pair ; 

 Self BufT cock and Self Yellow hen No. 2 pair; 

 Self- BufT cock. Foul Buff hen. No. 3 pair ; 

 Self Yellow cock. Self Yellow hen. No. 4 pair ; 

 Self BufT cock twice double-buffed. Foul Buff 

 hen twice double-buffed. No. .5 pair ; Foul BufT 

 cock very slightly foul and Variegated Yellow 

 hen. No. 6 pair, and so on throughout the room. 



" The use of Cinnamon blood I do not care 

 for, nor the crossing with any other variety. In 

 my opinion the careful selection of the rcdt 

 thing — viz. tlie Norwich — is quite sufficient. 

 With reference to pairing as above, it will be 

 noted that No. 3 pair will be double buffs ; the 

 reason for this is to increase size and colour. 

 I use the Foul hen for the purpose of getting 

 the body a little ligliter colour. No. 4 pair 

 I put up for the express purpose of hens only 

 which I pair up the following year to the cocks 

 Irom No. 5 pair (twice double-buffed). No. 6 pair 

 is very useful with which to produce stock birds. 



" When selecting birds prior to pairing, I 

 select hens that are short and stumpy, heads 

 nicely rounded, with tail and flights as short 

 as possible, and neatly carried ; cocks with 

 broad chest and good broad skull ; and when 

 placing two foul birds together, I like the beaks, 

 legs, and feet to be as dark as possible, and in 

 the case of two selfs the hen's legs not so dark 

 as the cock's. 



" 1 may say my Greens have been bred by 

 the careful selection of variegated birds from 

 my strain of Clear and Ticked Norwich ; so 

 that it is possible for any Norwich breeder to 

 produce good Greens in a few years if the stamp 

 of bird is right from the start. My winner of 

 the Championship Diploma for Best Norwich 

 Green at the Crystal Palace, 1910. was bred in 

 this way. Of course, what you are deficient of 

 in one bird must be made up in the otlier when 

 pairing, and last but not least allowing the 

 birds plenty of bathing facilities forms one of 

 my best burnishers." 



