THE LONDON FANCY CANARY 



311 



time coloiir has to bo retained, and 



finally iiidini-Amed. And what is tlie 



material at command ? All 



Points for London Fancy stock mav be 

 Breeders. •' 



classed inider one or other 



of two heads — viz. " strong-coloured " 

 and " fine-coloured." The strong are those 

 in which there is much grizzled feather 

 and dark flue, and the " fine " or " soft " 

 birds those in which the ticks are pale and 

 indistinct, consisting for the most part of 

 little more than a dark or grey stalk with 

 only an occasional grey tinge on the web. 

 A " fine "' bird will also show less dark 

 flue on being blown, and an additional 

 " fine " feature is a white leg. These dis- 

 tinctions, of course, are supposed to be 

 referable to the bird on its first moult only, 

 though the absolute " strength " of any 

 strain is further gauged by the tenacity 

 with which the ticks cling to the feather 

 in subsequent moults. The pairing of 

 Yellow and Buff, with all its relations to a 

 balance of colour and feather properties, 

 obtains here as with any other variety, 

 while the pairing of two " strong " or two 

 " fine " coloured birds, or " strong " with 

 " fine " properties, is based on precisely 

 the same principles as regulate the pairing 

 of analogous forms in the Norwich. Breed- 

 ing from two " strong "" birds will, as a 

 general rule, result in increased colour at 

 the probable exjiense of increase in ticks 

 and kindred features ; while mating two 

 " fine " or clear-bodied birds will produce 

 contrary effects, remembering that these 

 general results may be materially modified 

 by the action of latent tendencies. It 

 would be perfectly needless to wade through 

 all the details of a system of pairing which 

 has its exact parallel in the method to be 

 adoiDted in develojiing a Clear Norwich, 

 already fully explained. The natural laws 

 governing the wliole are identical, whether 

 it be required to develop a light body or 

 a dark, to remove spangle or to perfect it, 

 the difticulty in every case being the in- 

 trusion of other features not wanted. The 

 plan the London Fancy breeder has to 

 follow is obviously the mating of " strong "' 

 Avith " fine " coloured birds, which, without 



considering ollnr features, is essentially 

 pairing for colour. 



We have foiuid this method answer well, 

 not only producing good coloured bodies, 

 but also retaining dark flights and tail. 

 My bird, " Old Gold," and several others 

 of my noted winners, were all produced by 

 the pairing of Yellow cock to Buff' hen, or 

 vice versa. " London Pride," owned by 

 Mr. W. J. Stokes, Bow, a grand bird, and 

 one of the best Buff" London Fancies ever 

 seen, was bred from Yellow and Buff 

 parents. The pairing of two Buffs tends 

 to give a larger appearance to the young, as 

 it thickens the Aveb of the body-feathers, 

 and this thickening of the close -lying 

 feather adds to the bird's apparent size. 



Li favourable circumstances a breeder 

 has usually in his own cages a supply of 

 " bottled up " material of which he knows 

 the exact strength, or, more plainly, 

 wliether it be progressive or retrogressive 

 in its character. Here are one or two 

 ticked cocks : they scarcely look like the 

 sort of stuff one would like to pair with a 

 clear-bodied hen ; they might " put back " 

 the work a little. Not they ; the direction 

 of that strain lias ever been upward. 

 Here is another — a very " strong " bird, 

 apparently a dangerous one. Not at all ; 

 it is perfectly safe and a little gold-mine, 

 being an exceptionally strong bird from a 

 well-established clear strain, and may be 

 relied on to do more good than harm. 

 When this is the case, the breeder knows 

 where to look for colour or any other 

 standard i^roperty ; but when, from mis- 

 adventure of any kind, he must make a 

 dip into another strain, he should be most 

 careful to ascertain that the imported 

 " fresh blood " has been bred for the pur- 

 pose required, or lie may find that the effect 

 of the alien cross will cover a wider field 

 than he anticipated, and afford him work 

 for years to come in pulling up weeds, the 

 growth of unsuspected seeds long buried, 

 but now brought to the surface. 



The supply of these stock birds is now 

 very limited, and it will be necessary for 

 breeders to break new ground if they 

 would resuscitate this ancient breed. We 



