266 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



licii 1 c;iii. with f«o()(l sliapc. colour, head 

 and c[uality. 1 pair such a hen to one of my 

 best Cinnamon cocks, and select the Ijcsl of llie 

 young from these to pair l)ack to my ])ure 

 Cinnamon. I have never uscil any otlier cross. 

 and liave found such most successful in yielding 

 me the points I crossed for. The young hens 

 from this cross I have sometimes paired back 

 to their father, or l)irds of tlie same strain, with 

 good results, fixing the points I required — of 

 course selecting from their young only those 

 possessing the improvements I rec[uired for 

 future breeding willi. Some of lliese young 

 ones so bred have given me splendid results in 

 their progeny. My object in in-l)ree(ling. wlien 

 I do resort to it, is to fix i)oints I desire." 



We do not think it necessary to devote 

 a separate chapter to tlie subject of breed- 

 ing Crested Cinnamons in all 



Crested 

 Cinnamons. 



its detail, because the line 

 of operation can be deduced 

 from our foregoing observations, the chief 

 point for consideration here being how to 

 introduce the crest in the first instance- 

 this, of course, implying the assumption 

 that the breeder has no Crested Cinnamon 

 of any kind at command. The most direct 

 method, it is obvious, will be to import it 

 through the hen, since in that way the 

 object sought is obtained at once. It is 

 not material what class of hen we select, 

 but we should ])refcr a Grey-crested or a 

 Clear-bodied Dark-crested. Hens of this 

 description, paired with a rich .Ion(|Uc 

 CiiuuiMKin cock, would |)roducc what ? 

 In accordance with the law of Cinnamon 

 first-ci'oss wc should expect to liiid (irci'iis. 

 Cinnamons, Varicgatcil birds of cither knid, 

 and also Clears with ])iidv eyes, the ncsis 

 containing, as a natural conscciucnce. l)oth 

 Crests iind Plainheads, jirobably by far the 

 greater number Plainheads ; this, however, 

 could to an extent be checked by using a. 

 Crested hen which has been bicd from 

 two Crested parents, not Crest and Crest- 

 bred as nsnally ])aired. Of these young, 

 lired from the Cinnamon cock and Crested 

 hen, the Cimiamon-liiaikcd Cicslcd birds 

 nnist, at least, be hens, whatever the 

 amount of their variegation, be it mci'clv 

 a few cinnariion feathers mixed in the 

 crest or u more wideK -distributed form 



of variegation. And the (ireen-niarked 

 Crested will l)c — what '! Cinnamon-bred, of 

 course ; the cocks being a medium through 

 which cinnamon crest can be i)lanted on 

 any variety, just as the corresponding 

 form in the Plainhead can produce cinna- 

 mon marking. Similar forms of feather 

 will also be found among the Plainheads, 

 and there will also ])robably be the pink- 

 eyed Clear body. What are Ave to do with 

 these varied products ? If we have put u]) 

 several pairs, or have mated the same 

 Jonqne Cinnamon to two or three hens, 

 we shall have material at command to 

 carry out our pedigree-breeding efliciently, 

 without forming a series of alliances too far 

 within the prescribed bounds of consan- 

 guinity ; though, in connneneing. we should 

 mate irrespective of such laws if any two 

 streams ran in the direction wished, onh- 

 too glad to luiitc them in one. Take the 

 Green-marked cocks first. Crested or Plain- 

 head : a Crested bird we would jiair with 

 a lightly Cinnamon-marked hen. and expect 

 to find among the produce \'ariegated 

 Crested Cinnamons of either sex, more or 

 less evenly-marked according to the mark- 

 ing of the parents. If our Crests were very 

 few in our first cross we should not hesitate 

 to pair these Cinnamon (ireen-marked Crest 

 cocks to lightly einnaninn-niai'ked Crested 

 hens or pink-eyed Clea?' Crested hens (the 

 same way bred) with a \'iew to increasing 

 the number of Crests in the next gi'ui-rat ion. 

 A Plainhead froTU our first years woi'k we 

 would mate up with a Ck'ar-bodicd Cinna- 

 mon-crested hen. aiul ex|)eet them to pro- 

 duce the same as the |)revious |)airing, with 

 ])rol)abl\- lighter marking; wc would also 

 pair a. (Jreen-marked Crested bii'd with a 

 Clear Crest-bred hen, and a (irecn-niarked 

 Plainiiead witii a Crested hen. and look for 

 similar results, with the addition of moi'c 

 (ircen-uiarked and pink-eyed Clears, in all 

 of which we should exi)ect to find increased 

 de|)th of colour. So far we ha\-c worked 

 oulv with the |)|-ndiiee (if the pails put iij) 

 for crest -breeding, but in any roo?n in 

 which the breeding of colour-Cinnaniuns 

 has been earrit'd on thei'c will be lMainh<-.-id 

 cocks and hens in e\cry stage of develop- 



