Mule Breeding. 101 



During the moulting season the yellow hen which had bred 

 me some very fair mules died, and also the young canary cock 

 of this strain; the other I had sold previously, so that I had 

 nothing but one hen and the goldfinch left, and I was so exas- 

 perated at my bad fortune that I exchanged them for a pair 

 of good Lizard canaries with a friend, and gave up this 

 branch of bird - breeding ; but it is my intention to try it 

 again, and, I hope, with fewer misfortunes than I have hitherto 

 experienced. 



A gentleman who purchased from me a young cook bred 

 from the " sib-bred " hen, mother of the best mules I had 

 bred, put him to a clear Norwich hen canary, and a young 

 hen bred from this pair produced two very excellent mules. 

 I mention this fact to prove that where the blood is right 

 it will be perpetuated in future generations. I could name 

 several other cases within my own knowledge, if it were neces- 

 sary, to verify the fact. Nevertheless, it must be distinctly 

 understood that while this peculiar feature is traceable through 

 an entire race of birds allied in blood, it varies much and in 

 different degrees, even in the same family or generation. For 

 instance, I have known three hens, own sisters, each produce 

 mules, and although the progeny from the whole of them 

 were more or less pied, there was a marked characteristic 

 distinction among them, those of one particular hen being 

 infinitely superior in quality and markings to those of the 

 others. This, I presume, depends greatly upon the well-known 

 fact which is familiarly termed "throwing back," that is, 

 breeding back for several generations in favour or resemblance 

 to certain progenitors. This is no new theory, but an acknow- 

 ledged fact, and it is traceable not only in birds and animals, 

 but in the human species also. 



CHEVERELL AND PEA-THROAT GOLDFINCHES. It is not my 

 intention to attempt to refute in toto the theory held by some 

 breeders, who consider it essentially necessary to have a 

 "Cheverell" or a "Pea-throat" goldfinch in order to obtain 

 marked mules. My experience has taught me to place implicit 

 reliance upon the canary hens, and I am fully persuaded that 



