THK



349



Hvicultural tflbagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICULTURAL SOCI ETY.



Third Series —VO L. II. — No. 12 . —All rights reserved. OCTOBER, 1911.



HYBRID FRINGILLID/E.


By Allen Silver.


The accompanying plate depicts an adult pair of hybrids

between (.Fringilla montifringilla) and (F. ccelebs), bred by Miss

Janette Reeves of Wateringbury Hall, Kent, and now the property

of our esteemed Editor; who requested me to supply notes re¬

lative thereto. A description of the birds would, under the

circumstances, be supererogant, owing to the excellent handi¬

work of the artist; it being only necessary for me to point out

that this pair is the result of a cross between the male Bramble-

finch and hen Chaffinch. In the nest feather, young birds

resemble in plumage, nestling Chaffinches, excepting that their

breast and cheek feathers are warmer in tone; a few smoky

marks are sometimes discernible on the nape and mantle ; the

wing when spread shows partly the combined characters of the

parents, and in addition to that fact that they are more sturdy

in build ; their movements and general demeanour favour the

Bramblefinch parentage. At this age, birds bred by crossing

with the sexes reversed (i.e. male Chaffinch X hen Bramblefinch)

are practically indistinguishable, as also are adult liens ; on the

other hand, adult males produced by crossing in this manner are

browner in tone and not generally so rich and distinct in colour

as when the male parent is a Bramblefinch.


It is common knowledge among those who keep in touch

with the work of hybrid breeders, that little certainty attends

their experiments; excepting perhaps in those cases when the

female parent is a Canary paired to a bird which readily fertilizes

her eggs. The rearing of hybrids between two British Finches



