262 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



11 isu'l oltfii she oocs into liis Ijird-rooni ; 

 but slic (lid ycstcrdiiy. and there lay Ids 

 diary full ol' mysterious ineinoranda and 

 a note about something " rallino- due " in 

 a few days. Tiie little affair, when due. 

 brings with it only a repetition of his dis- 

 appointment, lie has another Yellow bird, 

 however, a Norwich bird, or at any rate he 

 bought it for such, and he resolves to try 

 what it will do, and ])airs it with one of his 

 t'inuauion hens. Hope has nearly died out 

 of his Ijreast. and he awaits the "" chijjping " 

 of this nest with some anxiety, but to his 

 great delight linds there arc at least two 

 or three pink-eyed young ones, which, while 

 they puzzle him the more, lead to nnitual 

 explanations and restored domestic con- 

 fidence. The solution of the enigma is vcrj' 

 simple. Cinnamon blood cannot be intro- 

 duced wilh direct results, exccjil front llic 

 mdlc side : or, to use a simile we have 

 fre<]uently adopted, no scion whatever can 

 be grafted on a Cinnamon stock, but the 

 Ciimanion can l)r worked on an\' bottom. 

 If a cock Canary, not being a Cinnamon 

 or crossed from the variety, be ])aired with 

 a Cinnamon hen. the ])ro(luce will not show 

 the piid< eye or any cinnamon feathers, but 

 will consist of Self-coloured Greens, cocks 

 and hens, and \'ariegated Greens, If, how 

 ever, we invert the order of things, and 

 infuse the Ciun.-imon blood b\- matini;' a, 

 Cinnamon cock witli, say, a Norwieh hen, 

 we ()])lain altogether dilTcrenl resulls. The 

 progeny will, foi- the most ])art, consist of 

 Self-coloured and \'ai-iegated CiniKimons, 

 with an occasional (ireen or (ii'ecn-mai'ked 

 l)ird, and with this strange I'csull also, thai 

 all the Cinnamons, Clear or Variegated, 

 will be hens. 



This is a fact not generally known, but 

 our own ex])ericncc has shown it to he a 

 fact, while in(|uirv on evcr\' 

 side has ncNcr in aiiv one 

 instance led to a, knowledge 

 of any othei- result. Some breeders will 

 oidy declare posit i\ely as to the \'elli)\\ 

 \'aricgated. but oui' cxpericucc is that 

 every bird whieli shows one cinnamon 

 feather Avill be a ben. .Vmong our northern 

 breeders, who abo\i- all Ihiuiis in the earl\- 



A Curious 

 Fact. 



'scxcnl ics of the last century deligided iu 

 a good ''Dun-marked "" bird, the (ireen 

 and Green-marked birds from this cross 

 were not reeognisetl for ordinary breeding 

 jiurposes as Greens proper, however bril- 

 liant they were, but, as bred from, or " off," 

 the Duns, and, when their pedigree was 

 known, were much valued for the rt'sults 

 to be obtained from them. The Green or 

 Green-marked cocks so hrvd. jiaircd with 

 elcai' birds of any variety, will throw ])otli 

 Green-marked and Cinua.mon-mai'ked. as 

 well as pink-eyed, cicar-lxxlied olTspiing, 

 which last are Cinnamons in their acts and 

 deeds. The Green or (ireen-marked hens 

 will jiroduce like results if ]iaired to cocks 

 descended from Cinnamons, though these 

 cocks may show no cinnanron-feather oi- 

 ])ink-cye. A friend of the late Mr. 

 Hlakston once, writing to him from Darling- 

 ton, said : " I have bred this season 

 from a Green-marked cock, the sou of a 

 Cinnamon, which I have ]iaired with two 

 well-bred Norwich hens, having no trace 

 of Cinnamon blood in them, and ha\'c got 

 both pink-eyed Clears and Cinnamon- 

 niarki'd produce," 



To anyone not acquainted with their 

 ^leculiarities, it might seem strange to lind 

 Cinnamons ])rc])onderating in a nest bi'ed 

 from, apparently, ordinary (Ji'eens. But 

 \-erv frequently it is so, and some admirers 

 of the variety obtain their Evenly-marked 

 Cimiamons from these N'ariegated Cinna- 

 mou-brcd Greens. ^lany i)f them, indccil, 

 will throw decently-marked young ones 

 wilh such cei'tainly as to be almost as 

 \alu.able iu their way as arc the '" unding " 

 hens which ])r()duce the wonderful hybi'ids, 

 so nialheiii;il ieally exacl in tlieii' marking, 

 between the (ioldlinch and Canary; some 

 of the very best and most reliable of these 

 unding hens being, in I'ael. full of Cinnamon 

 blood, which, when uniled with any other, 

 seems to lia\c llie |)ro|>ert\' of appearing 

 either in the (ireeu or Cinnamon form in 

 I he eye-stripes, and other regions where 

 native marking is ]irobably latent. Wc 

 referi'i'd to this in our remarks on breeding 

 I'Aenly-marked Xoi'wieh. bnl prel'er rather 

 to deal with tin- |ieeidiarily here in the 



