MATING UP OEIENTALS. 



as he contemplates how he shall mate up his 

 birds for the season: — 



' ' You select for my husband a rather heavy 

 laced one. It does not matter if he has a dark 

 feather or two in his tail. They will counteract 

 my gay ones, and my progeny may recover also 

 that nice lacing on the back, which I appear to 

 have lost." 



MATING-UP ORIENTALS. 



Now, my young friends, I have given you 

 some idea of what a good specimen should be, 

 but please do not jump to the conclusion that 

 such birds are plentiful. Birds which approach 

 the standard are few and far between, and when 

 obtainable fetch a high figure. But with patience 

 and perseverance it is not impossible to produce 

 them. Start out with the best material you can 

 afford to obtain. Get the ideal bird well into 

 your knowledge box, and then keep quietly 

 pegging away. 



If you are starting, say, with a pair of Blue- 

 laced Satinettes, select, if you can, say, a plain 

 headed cock and a crested hen, or vice versa. 

 If possible the colour of the hen should be darker 

 than the cock. Now, supposing the hen has the 

 fault of being rather flat on top of skull, let the 

 cock be good in this respect, by having what we 

 call a good top skull. 



The same rule applies to all other points. 

 If there is a serious defect in one bird try to 

 remedy it by having that particular point good in 



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