94 The Canary Book. 



character that I was enabled to obtain from him was that all 

 his canary hens used for this purpose were of So-and-so's 

 " celebrated " strain. I visited another and another, with a 

 like result, and not being satisfied I determined to visit Mr. 

 So-and-so himself. This gentleman was none other than a 

 knight of the shovel and pick ; or, to speak more plainly, a 

 pitman, or hewer of "black diamonds." This individual 1 

 found to be exceedingly reserved, cautious, suspicious, 'and 

 cunning in his manner. When I began to question him as to 

 how he managed to obtain the hens that had bred him such 

 excellent mules, he was very mysterious in his demeanour, 

 and his answers were given after considerable deliberation 

 oa his part. He evidently regarded my visit and catechising 

 him with much disfavour. Finding that my tactics in 

 asking straightforward questions were not at all appreciated, 

 I resorted to a different plan altogether, and with apparently 

 much better success. I bought a marked mule from him at 

 a good price, and also a young canary hen "of the mother 

 of the mule" I had bought so he informed me. She ought 

 to have been, for the price I paid for her ; but whether she 

 was a daughter of this particular hen or not, I can only say 

 that she failed to emulate the deeds of her parent. After 

 repeated visits and much manoeuvring, I fancied I had 

 learned something. He told me he had possessed the strain 

 for upwards of twenty years ; and in answer to further 

 questions, I discovered that they were all very nearly allied 

 in blood relationship. This gave me an idea, and I resolved 

 to follow it up. 



Whenever I heard that any breeder had produced a " pied " 

 mule, I made it a rule to go and try my utmost to trace the 

 parentage of the hen that bred it. Sometimes I succeeded to 

 a certain extent, but not generally ; and I found it a slow pro- 

 cess and terribly up-hill work. It often happened that the hen 

 had been bought from a dealer, or the person had forgotten 

 where he purchased her, and had merely run a goldfinch to her 

 as an " off chance," in hopes of getting " something good." Still 

 the little information I was enabled to accumulate in this way 



