100 The Canary. 



Having thus spoken of the time and manner of 

 pairing, we would now say a word upon the object to be 

 kept in view. With many persons a canary is a canary, 

 and so that young birds are produced they care not 

 what they are ; but this plan, if such it can be called, 

 not only necessarily prevents the attainment of excel- 

 lence, but destroys, we think, half the interest and en- 

 joyment of the occupation. In breeding canaries, as 

 in all other things, the axiom of Dr. Johnson, " that 

 whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well," 

 should ever be borne in mind. Were it only acted 

 upon, we should not see the number of common little, 

 ugly marked, ill-shaped birds we do, but all would be 

 more or less like the prize birds, larger in size, elegant 

 in shape, and rich and regular in colour. Although, 

 as in the case of cattle in the agricultural world, prizes 

 and exhibitions in London and other large towns have 

 done much to improve the breed of our canaries, yet 

 the progress is slow ; and I fear it will still be many 

 years before their influence is generally felt, and the 

 race of misshapen and irregular blotched birds are 

 extirpated from our land. 



To every breeder, therefore, of this pretty songster, I 

 would say, start out with some definite object in your 

 own mind, and then having settled what this shall be, 

 devote all the skill and knowledge you possess to bring 

 it about. For example, study the varieties of form 

 peculiar to each race, settle in your own mind a high 

 standard of elegance, and then select those birds alone 

 to breed from you think are most likely to realise it in 

 their produce. Do the same as to colour, decide at the 



