CANARIES 227 



occasional heavily variegated bird is seen, but most are dark 

 selfs, which are to be preferred to the former. 



In breeding most sorts of mules, it is customary to run 

 a cock finch with a hen canary, chiefly because of the tracta- 

 bility of the latter, as compared with most wild females, and 

 the certainty with which she will rear the young. Hens 

 that will throw light or clear hybrids are greatly valued, 

 and the establishment of a strain of such hens has often 

 been attempted. English fancy papers are filled with ad- 

 vertisements of " pink-eyed yellow sib-bred hens " for mul- 

 ing purposes, the idea being that " sib " or inbred birds are 

 most likely to breed light mules. Whether or not this be 

 true, it seems certain that hens with pink eyes (denoting 

 cinnamon blood, with its " sporting " tendencies), carefully 

 yellow-bred for several generations, are more likely to pro- 

 duce clear birds than females of mixed ancestry. In spite of 

 all precautions, however, the tendency of the great majority 

 of hens is to throw dark or heavily variegated mules. At 

 any rate, she should be yellow, not buff, in color, as buff 

 hybrids lack the richness of yellows. She should be of the 

 Norwich rather than of the Yorkshire type, since the off- 

 spring of the latter are too slender and upright. 



Most hen canaries will mate freely with cocks of other 

 species, although some are difficult to reconcile. An im- 

 portant point is to wait until the normal nesting time of the 

 wild bird, since it will not be in breeding condition until 

 then. If introduced too soon, fighting is likely to occur, 

 with disastrous results. The cock finch should be tame, 

 well accustomed to cage life and of course as large and 

 brightly colored as possible. 



Pairing, building and laying are much the same with 

 cross-mated pairs as with straight Canaries. It is always 

 best to remove the eggs as laid because of the tendency of 

 many cock finches to destroy them. As soon as the hen is 



