346 



CANARIES. HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



The Canary= 

 Bullfinch. 



compi'li' will) il. Xi'Xl in onlci' ((iiiics a ;_; I 



IJark Si'lf, cillu-i- >Clli)\v uv Dull, wliicli. Iiniii 

 till' ('xliibilioii slaiul pciinl, is prc'l'i'i'ii'd In a 

 Heavily ^'a^i(■^aU■(l liird, wliicli latlcr in sonic 

 exhibitions, competes in a scparali- class liir 

 •■ Ileaxily \'ai'iegaltHl " Ilybriils of other crosses 

 as well. 



Jn Ihis cross we have Ihe order of pairiiiu 

 reversed, llie sire beint< the C.anarv, as uj) to 

 till- pieseni all anlheidic speci- 

 iiic'ns lia\c wilhoul excei>lion 

 been piddiiccd troin I he cock 

 (Canary and hen Hiiliriiuli. To our knowledge 

 occasional specimens ot this Hybrid have 

 appeared diiiinLi Ihe past l\v<'nly-six \'ears al 

 exhibitions; though always looked upon with 

 some suspicion, and b> the majority ot 

 fanciers belie\ed lo be (Ireenlinch-liulllhieh 

 Hybrids exhibiled as Canai-y-liulllineh. This 

 mistaken identity by (hose who were no! careful 

 observers was excusable to an extent, owiny 

 to a certain amount of siniilarily in the Canary- 

 Bullfnieh and Greenlinch-Hullfineh Hybrids. 

 There is, however, a distincl dilTercnee in the 

 iiibiur of the backs of Ihese two h\brids ; both 

 are of a slaley grey (followiiiu Ihe 1 Sulltlncti), 

 Willi llie faintest suspicion of linnanioii tint in 

 il. IJid in every instance Ihe slaley grey back 

 of Ihe Canary-Bullfineh is striped W'ith dark 

 slri|)es, lighter, but similar to IIkjsc on Ihe back 

 of a (ireen (Canary. The back of tlie Cireen- 

 fineli-15ulllinch on the other hand has llie plain 

 slaley gre>- perfeclly free from dark stri])es. 

 We ha\e, we Ihink, seen every specimen of Ihis 

 ci'oss exiiibiled during Ihe lasl Iwenly-six 

 years, and without exce|)lioii ha\e found the 

 dilTerenee describe<l present in Ihe two hybi'ids. 

 The (;anary-Hulllinch's beak, as a rule, is not 

 so large or slout as that of Ihe (Ireenllneh- 

 Bullllnch, and Ibci'e is also a din<'reuce in Ihe 

 sha|)e of Ihe two birds, marked in scnne moi'e 

 than others. .Again, Ihe tail of the (lanary- 

 IJuillinch is longer than thai of tlie (Ireenlineli- 

 ISulllineh. Doubts as to Ihe genuiiuuiess of the 

 Canary-Bulllincli ll\!iiiil reached a climax 

 when a protest was lodged against a specinuui 

 al a show held by Ihe National British Bird and 

 Mule Chd) at llie Crystal Palace in Oelober. IS'.l.S. 

 This acti(Mi followed upon a lengthy c(Hi-espond- 

 enec in I'lu- h'nilln-n-il World, for and against 

 this bird, wliieh had won at anollier show at 

 Ihe Cryshd I'alaee a few months earlier, but the 

 Nati<uial I'.iitish I'.ii'd and Mule Club u|)held 

 the .Judge's decision thai Ihe exhibit was 

 genuine The controversy brought the (^anary- 

 Bulllineh into such prominence as lo slimulate 

 breeders' elTorls to produce the cross, with Ihe 

 result that as many as eleven genuine specimens 



lui\e of late yeai's competed in (me class. Some 

 of these ha\-e been pied in tail, with ])alehes 

 of light canary colour on their liodv. evident 

 proof of their being genuine, and of Ihe achieve- 

 ment of Ihe andiilion of hybrid breeders. 



.\ >ello\\ l)ark cock is a noble bii'd, generally 

 larger I ban Ihe oi'dinarx- Bulllinch. and sloul 

 in build, excepi whi'rc Ihe Canary sire has been 

 (jf Ihe N'orkshir<' l\|ie. These hybrids are of 

 genial disposillon wilhoul liluslcr or Hurry, and 

 so look well in the show cage. The back of a 

 ^■ellow l)aik Canary-Bullfmch is a dark slaley 

 gr<'y, slightly strijied. the grey running up into 

 the nape of llie neck. The lop of the head 

 deepens into a blackish cap. but nol so dark 

 as that of the Bulllinch. The wings and tail are 

 lilack or blackish grey, with a lighter bar across 

 the wings, similar lo the Bidllinch. With colour 

 feeding this lighter colour not infre(|uenlly 

 becomes slightly tinted willi rufous-orange, 

 and the light band round the forehead, cheeks, 

 lliroal, breasl, and under body, being a rich 

 rufous-orange, is intensified to almosl \ermilion 

 (ui the breasl, and not infrequently a dark 

 streak or two appears on the flanks intermingled 

 with a rufous shade, the \enl running olT lo a 

 whilish grey — a striking blending, which appeals 

 to the most fastidious taste, and Is well de- 

 picled on our Coloured Plate. The shade of a 

 Buff Dark Canary-Bullfinch is naturally paler, 

 the breasl cohuir verging inlo a vinous chocolate, 

 not unlike that of Ihe hen tJulllincli, though of 

 a richer and lighter shade. 



f|> to the ])res<'nl most of Ihese Hybrids 

 lia\e been Dark s|)eeiinens ; those that have 

 been " marked " have only had a few light 

 feathers in the tail or wing or a small patch of 

 light on the Hank. One we lia\c seen had a 

 light |)alch al the back of the head. Whether 

 Lightly-marked and Clear birds of Ihis cross 

 will be produced is problemalical. bul Ihe 

 accomi>lisliment of such a feat will indeed be 

 nolewoithy. 



This is about the smallesl of our Hybrids, and 

 owing lo this and llie sombre colour and lack 

 of song of Ihe s])ecimens yet 

 The RedpolU |„.,„|uced, it is less popular and 

 Canary. at tractive tlian other of Ihe 



Finch crosses. We do nol remember seeing 

 a Pied or Marked blid of this cross, all 

 have been Dark s|)eciinens, and of these 

 only two Were .lon(|ue, the I'esl bull. One 

 of tlu-se .lonques was owned by ourselves, 

 and il won prizes al various exhibitions, in- 

 cluding third in a mixed class at the Crystal 

 Palace in 1897, compel ing againsl Clears of 

 other crosses. This scarcity of .loncpics is no 

 doubt owing lo so few specimens having been 



