ioo The Canary Book. 



nest, but I only succeeded in rearing one young canary, 

 which died at the age of fourteen days. I next put the 

 goldfinches with them, but on this occasion I reversed the 

 cocks, for this reason: One of them was what is known 

 among bird breeders as a "pea-throat," and he was the 

 father of the clear and lightly marked mules; and being 

 aware that a difference of opinion exists among breeders with 

 respect to these birds, some attributing the cause of the 

 mules being pied or marked to the fact of breeding with 

 "pea-throat" and "cheverell" goldfinches, I resolved upon 

 making an experiment, in order to ascertain, if possible, 

 whether there really was any foundation for such a belief. 

 In the course of twelve or fourteen days both hens laid and 

 were set, and their eggs were fruitful. The hen with the 

 "pea-throat" hatched four eggs and brought up the mules 

 herself there were three of them marked and one entirely 

 dark, but the marked birds were not so good as those she 

 had produced the previous year with an ordinary goldfinch. 

 The other hen hatched and reared three birds, two being 

 dark and the other tolerably well marked. I had purposed 

 reversing the finches again, but before I had an opportunity 

 of doing so the "pea-throat" died. I thereupon ran the other 

 goldfinch the only one I had left to the hen which had 

 reared a brood by the " pea- throat "; the result was a nest 

 of three mules, all marked birds, and very similar in their 

 markings to her first produce. I had replaced the finch with 

 the other hen, and on this occasion she hatched four mules, 

 which consisted of two dark buff mules, one clear mule, and 

 the other had one lightly-marked wing and an eye mark on 

 the same side as the marked wing. The clear mule died at 

 the age of three weeks, from some cause which I never was 

 able to discover, as it appeared in perfect health only a few 

 hours before I found it dead; the other I managed to rear, 

 but, unfortunately, I lost the lightly-marked bird when it was 

 almost through the moult. One of the dark mules from this 

 nest I showed at the Crystal Palace, where it took first 

 prize. 



