130 Bird- keeping. 



may be put together. If they build too early in the 

 year, and the young birds are hatched in cold weather, 

 they often suffer from it, especially if the hen does 

 not cover them constantly. It is not wise to allow 

 the birds to choose their own mates : in order to pro- 

 duce strong and beautiful offspring, careful selection 

 is requisite ; an old cock and a young hen, or a young 

 cock and an old hen, should be mated; and the colours 

 should be well contrasted ; for instance, a jonque cock 

 should have a mealy hen, and a green bird a yellow 

 mate, and so on. A clear deep yellow bird without a 

 spot of black about him, should be put with a varie- 

 gated green and white hen, to produce marked birds. 

 Some of the young birds will, as a rule, follow -each 

 parent in colour, and have a much better plumage 

 than if two birds of the same colour were mated. Two 

 crested birds must never be put together : the progeny 

 will probably be baldheaded. 



A still stronger reason for not allowing birds to 

 select their mates themselves, exists in the fact that 

 birds of the same family cannot be paired with im- 

 punity. 



Two of my birds were mated by mistake which 

 were brother 'and sister, and almost all their young 

 were feeble, blind, or deformed ; and this is frequently 

 the case, I believe. When the pair have made friends, 

 and the cock bird begins to feed the hen, they may be 

 put into a proper " breeding-cage," or into a common 



