7=7 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS. AND BRITISH BIRDS 



type, bred Iroiu Cinnamons, a iirst or 



second cross Ironi the Cinnamon. \Vc have 



always had excellent colour Ironi such luiis. 



and, in the case of Gokllinch IIyl)rids, 



secured a line rich Goldfinch flush on the 



face, an important feature in a good Goldie 



Hybrid. We do not advise the use of 



Buff, Green or ■Marked hens, for the simple 



reason that we then get a \ery large 



percentage of Buff Hybrids, and by using 



only Yellow hens there is a ])ossibility of 



])roducing more Yellow liybrids. and the 



Buff Dark hybrids bred frt)ni Yellow hens 



arc, as a rule, a much richer colour than 



those bred from Bull' hens. 



We have read recipes for compounding 



hens for nulling purposes, elaborated with 



extreme care, in which each 



Muhng ingredient is weighed out as 

 Hens. " ... 



cai'cfully as if for making pills ; 



l)ut we regard them as utter nonsense. 

 How nulling hens, as they are called, that 

 is, a hen Canary which has proved herself 

 to be a producer of light Hybrids, origin- 

 ated we cannt)t Tuulcrtake to explain. 

 Starting v/ith the knowledge that ninety- 

 nine out of a hundred hens will throw only 

 Dark self-coloured Hybrids, it is likely 

 that the singular phenomenon oi' one 

 throwing \'ariegated birds may have 

 attracted attention, and, by careful breed- 

 ing in the same family, a strain may have 

 been cstalilished, having .-i lendeney to 

 throw N'ariegalcd rather liiaii Dark birds. 

 J}ul excessive inbreeding is uol boi'ne out 

 in Dr. (iailoways ixperienee, given later, 

 as l)eing l)eneliciai in Light Hybrid breed- 

 ing. iSeithcr is it justilied by our own 

 experience, and llii- lew I'iear Hxbrids 

 thai iia\c biiii bred prove conclusively 

 thai iiil)ri cding is not tlie solution, or else 

 to-day I kar Hybrids would have been 

 almost as ])lentiful as Clear Canaries. 

 .Some lew Canai'ies, it is true, exist wliieh 

 (III produce Light Ilxbrids. i)iil we ii;'.ve 

 ne\er met a breeder who \entured to say 

 Ihat he had l)uilt \\p his strain by sim])ly 

 iid)reeding. VV/c IciKlctui/ iiiiisl Iw ilirn 

 to h('iii>i, tiifh, (tt'.d their judiciau.s inbi'ceding 

 may assist to fi.x and perpetuate lliaL 

 tendenc\'. 



Dui-ing a conversation willi Mr. Tuhn 

 Dixon, of \Vigton, a well-known Hybrid- 

 breeder, we learnt that he is 



Breeding convinced b\- experience that 

 Light ' 



Hybrids. 



the British bird pla\s (iiute 



important a part in the pro- 

 duction of Light Hybrids as the Canary, 

 and that it is when a British bird, w ith a 

 tendency to throw light olTspring, is paiix-d 

 to a Canary with like tendency, that the 

 Clear Hybrid is ])rodneed. We have the 

 greatest respect for ^Ir. Dixons o|)inion. 

 but feel that if this is the real solution we 

 should ex^jcet, when two such birds were 

 paired together, far more Clear hyltrids 

 would be produced than at present ; still, 

 we agree that some British birtls assist 

 more than others in the production of 

 Light Hybrids, and we have ])roduced 

 half-Clear Hybritls from Yellow Heavily 

 Variegated Cinnamon hens. Some twenty 

 years ago we bred a Siskin-Canary Hybrid 

 half Clear from a Yellow Cinnamon Ticked 

 hen, but we obtained the best results in Light 

 Hybrid breeding from Clear Yellow^ Lanca- 

 shire hens and Clear Yellow Pink-eyed Nor- 

 wich type hens, not necessarily inbred with 

 blood relations, but Clear bred for many 

 generations. It is cpute possible to do 

 this with little or no inbreeding, selecting 

 out-crosses each year from your own stock, 

 so that you know how they are bred. 

 Start with Clear Pink-eyed birds, or even 

 Variegated Cinnamons of Norwich ty])e, 

 pairing them to Clear Norwicli. and con- 

 tinue to i)air u]) Clear with Cliar genera- 

 tion after generation, without inbreeding, 

 until tiie blood is so free from dark pigment 

 that no dark feather is reproduced. By 

 avoiding inbreeding you retain good size 

 and robust health in the stock, and, a It In mgh 

 it takes time, -so favourable have the results 

 been from hens thus bred for a few years, 

 esi)eciallv if the tendency to throw light 

 feathers in Hybrids was jiresent at the 

 connnencement, that we are convinced 

 its general adoption would produce a 

 much laru'er i)ercenlage of Light Hybrids. 

 We do not recomnu nd Yorkshire hens 

 for Hyl)ri(l breeding, as the olTspring run 

 too slim in body and too upright in 



