Ii6 Caa'a.':ies axd Cage-Birds. 



observer. He knows what it is made of and what it holds, as plainly as if it were a glass phial 

 duly labelled with the registered strength of its contents. It is to an intelligent man of this kind 

 that we should apply for our first pair of birds, and, whatever else we got, we would take care 

 that at any rate we did our best to be supplied with tubes from which pure colour could be 

 extracted by careful manipulation, rather than with empty ones which had been squeezed dry. 

 One of the best birds of this kind we ever saw was a Clear Jonque exhibited by Mr. Edward 

 Bemrose, of Derby, some years ago ; it was in the last show held in the Tropical Department at 

 the Crystal Palace, and was claimed by Mr. John Young, of Sunderland. In those days we, 

 perhaps, didn't know so much about Greens as we do now, but we had a glimmering of the truth. 

 This bird was paired with a Clear Buff hen, as was then our wont in our endeavours to produce 

 high-class Clears ; but the produce was a marked preponderance of Heavily-variegated birds. 

 Among the offspring were one or two Clears, which were fully up to the standard of the day, and, 

 notably, a Buff, which has been gathered to his fathers only recently. The hens were, most of 

 them, very heavily marked, some of them being only slightly broken, but all could be relied upon 

 for producing first-class Clears when mated with Clear cocks ; and one cock, a Variegated Yellow, 

 was equally reliable for producing pure Clears when paired with Clear hens. Clears from this strain 

 were also pretty sure to throw one or two birds more or less marked, the balance of Green blood 

 being such that by careful mating, so as not to harp too long on one string, it could be diverted 

 into certain channels with a degree of certainty we never knew surpassed by any strain which came 

 under our observation. The immense number of birds of the variegated form which find their 

 way into our exhibitions cannot be accounted for by any supposition that they are bred in that 

 direction from any desire to produce the infinite variety of marking which we find in them, for the 

 sake of any value which may attach to them on account of such irregular variegation. They are 

 in reality the exhibition of so many intermediate links in the long chain, the value of each link 

 being in exact proportion to its known tendency towards progression or retrogression; and all goes 

 to prove the existence of a recognised system by which the peerless beauty of the Clear bird 

 is developed. 



It is important, then, in selecting breeding-stock, that the Variegated birds chosen should be 

 taken from the upper branches of the tree and not from too near the root ; and so long as they 

 are of known pedigree and can be relied on not to play unaccountable pranks as regards colour, it 

 is not of much moment on which side, male or female, the green is found present or latent — for it 

 is possible that it may not always be present, though very near the surface. Some breeders prefer 

 to pair Variegated cocks with Clear hens, and others the reverse ; but in actual practice it is found 

 necessary to mate them, not as one would wish, but as they are to be obtained ; for with all the 

 care in the world they cannot be bred to order, and the breeder who wishes to work with his own 

 stuff must take it as he finds it and overcome difficulties as best he can. Bear in mind that the 

 danger of introducing fresh blood into any known strain consists in the risk arising from the 

 admixture of blood of which the constituent parts are not known ; and a careful breeder, who may 

 find himself short of Clear or Variegated cocks or hens, may have some of his carefully-arranged 

 measures completely upset by the introduction of a foreign cross which appears to be what it is 

 not, viz., an established Clear, when it may in reality be nothing more than the chance issue of an 

 obstinate dark strain. We do not say that this risk is very great, for good Clears are not so easily 

 bred as to be the frequent produce of dark pairs ; but we do say that indiscriminate buying or 

 claiming birds of unknown pedigree at our shows is not free from risk, and is not the road 

 to success or to the sure accomplishment of such results as might be wished for. 



In this selection and gradual building up, as it were, of reliable breeding-stock, it has been the 



