362 



CANARIES, HYBRIDS, AND BRITISH BIRDS 



prciloiuiiialcs. The briulil yellow (iT llic GlTcn- 

 fliicli Willi's and I ail sluiw up in a striking! 

 maiiiUT on llic oiiUr wili ol Ihc lli.ulil fcatiiiTS 

 of the wing, and on llir cd.m' of llir lail fcatluTS 

 lowards the base. Linncl-tirecnlinclu's arc. as 

 a rnlf. inclined lo he more lively llian cither of 

 llitir |iarents, and do not show Ihcnisclves olT 

 with Ihc graceful " hop" from perch lo perch 

 chaiactcristic of the Linnet and Greenfinch. 

 Ill song some take after the Linnet, while others 

 follow the Greenlinch. All that we ha\e heard 

 have, liowever, had a slight hlendiiig of the 

 noles of each. The hens are a more dingy 

 colour than the cocks and have no yellow in 

 the wings. 



This is one of the most sober-coloured of 

 Hybrids, and we say this with no inleiition of 

 disparagement, but rather to 



bredbx Ihal euthusiasl ic lady Hybrid breeder, 

 Miss .laiiet I'ecNes. of \Valcringbury, Kent. 

 As their parentage would indi- 



The T^vite= 

 Greenfinch. 



The Linnet^ 

 Redpoll. 



emphasise our suggestion that 

 a separate class should be 

 given at sliows for these quiet-coloured crosses, 

 for here we have a most rare Hybrid, yet it 

 has little or no chance at an exhibition against 

 more gorgeous-coloured specimens. Hirds of 

 this cross follow the Twite in size, shape and 

 colour, except that the flight feathers of the 

 wings and tail are shorter, and there is just 

 the faintest tint of the Greenhnch green on 

 the breast and flanks, and of the Greeuliiuli 

 yellow on the outer web of the Ilight fealhers 

 of the wing. Our descriplion is from a specimen 

 exhil)iU'd by Mr. \V. H. Vale, of Claiiham, 

 London. 



The Linnet-Redpoll is anolhcr very sober- 

 coloured bird, the degree of reddish brown 

 and darker striping largely 

 depending upon Ihe ])arents. 

 For instance, a Hybrid bred 

 from a Linnet and Lesser Redpoll has a iiuuli 

 more rufous brown body colour than oiu' that 

 is bred from a Linnet and mealy r.edpoll. 

 The Hybrid from this latter i)airing has 

 lighler and more bullish lone covering the 

 surface ot Ihc brown, and it is as a rule lai'ger 

 than llie llxbriil trinu the rormer pairing. lu 

 either case, however, Ihey are of the Linnet 

 shape, wilh just a little fuller breast and 

 smaller hcail, having the sweet round head of 

 the Uedi)oll. They are cheerful, active birds ; 

 the cocks havc> much of Ihe Linnet's song, 

 though lutl (piile its llueiicy, intermingled with 

 a little of the Redpoll chatter. The hens are 

 duller in colour and more hea\ily striped (ui 

 Ihc breast than Ihc cocks. 



The Rramblelinch-Challinch is luil only a 

 rare cross, hut the blending of the colours ot I be 

 jiarents is very ])retly. Tlicv have been pro- 

 duced from the Hramhlefinch cock and Ghallinch 

 hen, and vice versa. Some of Ihe finest speci- 

 mens that have graced our show benches were 



Bramble^ 



finch^ 



Chaffinch. 



cate, they are of nice size, 

 being similar in shai)e and 



Classification. 



miivements to Iheir parents. The 

 song of the cocks that wc have heard was largely 

 that of the Challinch, and they had the same 

 peculiar manner of raising the feathers on the 

 top of the head upon our approaching their 

 cage, as it pleased to see a visitor. These 

 Hybrids are hardy and not at all diflicuU to 

 keep, and meet with a fair amounl of success 

 on the show bench, even in a mixed class. 

 The hens are not so rich in colour as the cocks 

 and disi)laynone of the orange rufous body colour. 

 A Hybrid has been produced from the 

 Tree Sparrow and House Sparrow. There are 



also other crosses said to have 

 „ been produced, but as we have 



no authentic proof of such, we 

 shall refer lo them in our chapter on breeding 

 Hybrids from two British birds. 



We have already referred to tlie scanty 

 elassilieation i)l" Ilyljrids bred I'rom two 

 Britisli birds, and may, 

 perhaps, be alloweci to 

 suggest the iohowing classes for large 

 exliibitions : — (o) Any variety Bullfinch 

 Hybrid except Canary-Bullfiuch ; (h) tJold- 

 fineh-Siskin, Goldfinch-Redpoll, Siskin- 

 Greeuliiich, Kedj)olI-Siskiii ; (c) G()l<llineh- 

 Greenfineh, Bramblefineh-Challiiicli. Ciold- 

 fnieh-Liimet, and Siskin-Linnet ; (d) \uy 

 other variety of Hybrid between two 

 Ih-itisli birds. 



Tliis would allow ol' all Hybrids, what- 

 ever their colour or size, ol' competing 

 much luoi'e c(iually than at present, and 

 as numbers increased the classes coidd be 

 further extended by subdivision, or even 

 giving some Hybrids a class to themselves. 

 This would also encourage the production 

 of the more common crosses in goodly 

 numbers. 



In attempting to frame a scale of |)oinls 

 for judging Hybrids, we believe that we 

 irc doing somelhing which has 



Scale of 

 Points. 



nol 



been atli'iiiulcd before. 



I'l'actieal men, as a rule, how- 

 ever, give due consideration when 

 judging to the correct blending in the 

 Ilxbrid of the essential points of their 



