CHAPTER XXXV 



THE BREEDING OF HYBRIDS FROM TWO BRITISH BIRDS 



To produce fjood colour and marking in 

 Hybrids, wc must see that tliese ])ro- 



Selections. I'^'^''^' ^'"^ l"'^'^'^* "^ ^^''^ 

 l)a rents, or our chance of 



producing an exhibition Hybrid will be 

 poor indeed. Good specimens are occasion- 

 ally bred Irom mediocre jiarents, but they 

 are the exception rather than the rule, 

 and wc do not believe in trusting to such 

 chance work. No matter what the cross 

 may be, we advise the selection of tin- 

 largest, richest - coloured, best - luarkid 

 specimens of British birds of the kind you 

 require that you can lay your hands on to 



]5ut as wc said before, whatever tlicir 

 kind, be they Goldfinches, Bullfinches, 

 Siskins, Linnets, Redpolls, Greenfinches, 

 Twites, Bramblefinches, Chaifinches, or any 

 other, select the finest cocks and hens 

 you possibly can to go together. It is 

 inuuaterial whether tliey be birds that 

 have been reared under Canaries from 

 the British bird's eggs, or hand reared, 

 or caught wild in the usual way. If caught 

 birds, tlicn it is well to secure them early 

 in the autumn, so that they get accustomed 

 to cage hie and their surroundings. 



The birds which are intentled to be 



pan- together. If it be a cock Goldfinch, bred together can be allowed to ll\ in 



see that he has a large, rich-coloured jjairs in the same cage throughout the 



blaze, good body colour, large, rich-coloui'cd winter ; they then get on good terms with 



yellow wing bars and moons; and if it is each other.' Some British birds do not 



a Bullfinch hen you are intending to pair ])recd the first year, but do so successfully 



hnu to, see that she is of good size and the next ami succeeding vcars. It is al 



rich colour, with a large, shapely cap 

 If you have these good characteristics in 

 the parents, there will be every possibility 

 of their being ini])Ianted in their progeny. 

 In su])|)ort of our advocating such, we 

 may say that the largest and best-coloured 

 Goldlincli-Bullfinch Hybrid we have ever 

 seen, nnd wliicli w;is proiujunccd a wonder 

 by all who .saw it al our exhibitions a lew 

 years ago, was bred from a large, rich- 

 coloured Sil)cri;\n Goldfinch cock and a 

 Siberian Bullfinch hen. The Sib( ri.m 

 Goldfiiu'h is a much larger bird than the 

 British, and as it carries the same ])iuma<ie, 

 but (m a larger scale, we get a, belter 

 dis])lay of colour on the Hybrids bred 

 from it cond>ined with size. Sonic very 

 fine Hybrids, too, are bred from our 

 Knglish birds. German Goldfinches and 

 Bullfinches arc also useful for breeding 

 purposes, being a little larger than ours. 



3C4 



s also 

 very imjxjrtant that the jiairs intciuled 

 to breed together agree well after a reason- 

 able acquaintance, for if continual quarrel- 

 ling goes on resvdts are seldom good, as 

 cocks that have been severely hen-pecked, 

 or hens th.il 1ki\c been ill-trcatcd liy a 

 tyi'aut male, rarely gain .sullieicnt imitual 

 confidence to breed successfully. There 

 arc cxecpl ions, hul it is bi'st where such 

 battles continue for any length of time 

 to separate the birds and give each a fi'ish 

 male, if, as it is ad\isable. you have a 

 surplus to sek-et from, mitil they find an 

 eligible parlnei'. It is surprising how birds 

 recognise an old hkiIc. Mr. G. Munday, 

 of BiiMuoudsey, had a Bullliueh hen ])aire(l 

 u]( tt> a clear yellow Xorwieh cock, from 

 which he obtained fertile eggs. He tried 

 to pair ll;at Bullic hin with e\'ery other 

 clear yellow cock Canary in his room, 

 e\en to the brother of the one she had 



