H4 The Canary Book. 



male canary should be removed, and she should be set. My 

 reason for recommending this method is, first, that the female 

 canary, having naturally a stronger desire for a mate of her 

 own species than for a foreigner, is thereby induced to begin 

 to breed sooner than she would otherwise do; for although 

 a hen canary will build, and sit about the nest in the pre- 

 sence of a goldfinch, it will be found that she rarely, if ever, 

 begins to breed before the end of April or beginning of 

 May; and I have known instances of hens postponing their 

 breeding operations as late as June under such circumstances ; 

 whereas, if they had had a partner of their own tribe, they 

 would most probably have had eggs in March or the begin- 

 ning of April. My next reason is, that goldfinches rarely 

 begin to breed until the middle of April, but more frequently 

 in May; and another reason is, that it gives an opportunity 

 of testing the capabilities of the hens in the capacity of 

 nurses ; for, if a hen fail in this respect, it is useless to breed 

 mules from her unless you provide yourself with a few spare 

 hens to act as foster mothers to the newly-hatched birds. I 

 need scarcely say that this is not at all desirable if it can by 

 any means be dispensed with. A further reason is that, sup- 

 posing the hen produces a nest of good mules, there is the 

 satisfaction of having some of her offspring for future opera- 

 tions. It is a generally recognised maxim among old expe- 

 rienced mule breeders not to place a goldfinch with a hen 

 canary so long as he retains any portion of the "black" on 

 his bill, as it is believed that until the beak is quite clear 

 they are unproductive. It is perhaps necessary for me to 

 explain here that all goldfinches, during the winter and early 

 spring, have a dark mark resembling an ink or pencil line, 

 which runs straight down the middle of the upper mandible, 

 and as soon as they are ready to pair this mark entirely dis- 

 appears; not all at once it is a gradual process, and extends 

 over several weeks; but until it does so the bird is not con- 

 sidered in a fit condition to produce fruitful eggs. Another 

 peculiar feature about a goldfinch is that when moulted in 

 the open air it has black legs, but as soon as it becomes 



