Uses of the Lizard Ckoss. 



117 



custom of some of our oldest breeders to introduce certain crosses with other varieties, and chiefly 

 with the Lizard. This would seem at the outset to strike immediately at the root of the theory of 

 "pure" breed of any kind ; but fanciers generally know how extremely difficult it is to maintain what 

 is understood by purity of breed, or to refute the truth which seems to speak out occasionally in the 

 persons of their different specialities, hinting at a remote impurity, imported for useful ends, which 

 has not quite died out. That, we take it, is the purest breed in which the most desirable properties 

 are most securely rooted and perpetuate themselves with the most constant fixity ; and we might 

 almost go so far as to say that, in some fancies, the demand for ultra-excellence has induced 

 systems of breeding which would make a reversion to some of the " old," " original," " pure " (i") 

 types anything but satisfactory, few of them having reached our day without having been vastly 

 improved upon and materially altered, to their manifest advantage, despite the teaching of an 

 obstructive old-fogeydom, itself a genuine specimen of a pure race very tenacious of life. 



The cross with the Lizard is one from which we think good results have frequently been 

 obtained ; for, apart from this bird possessing the colour elements in an eminent degree, its shape 

 and texture of feather harmonise well with those of the Norwich. It is, however, chiefly on the 

 former grounds that an occasional cross is made ; but now that colour can be drawn in such a 

 degree from Nepaul, it is to be feared that, for a time at least, a few sound breeding usages will 

 be neglected. We must not overlook the fact that the true object of breeding is to produce a 

 bird capable of performing great things in this way, and that therein lie the elements of strength. 

 No plan more surely fatal to future prospects can possibly be followed than a persistent endeavour 

 to make feeding supersede careful breeding. 



The first nests from a Lizard cross will be, for the most part, more or less pied, showing in a 

 marked way a combination of the distinctive features of each variety ; but by judicious mating of 

 these Pied birds with others from Clear strains — selecting for the purpose those most lightly 

 variegated— the dark markings will soon vanish, and Clear birds of good feather and rich colour 

 appear. Very beautiful birds will occasionally be produced just as the last vestiges of the Lizard 

 are taking flight, the spangling of this bird lingering in a soft, hazy indistinctness on the saddle 

 and about the neck, while a closer examination of the bird will probably disclose some traces of 

 the dark stems of the larger feathers, accompanied by a grizzly appearance on the coat, the whole 

 having a faint, undecided character about it suggestive of its inability to stand before the continued 

 infusion of Clear blood. It will also be found that a few of the Pied birds may probably be marked 

 with some degree of exactness ; but this must be regarded as nothing more than a fleeting beauty, 

 because, owing to the tendency the Lizard has to become paler and paler on each successive 

 moult, these dark markings, being of Lizard creation, are as likely as not to fade into grey at the 

 first shedding, if not to disappear altogether, in which respect they differ from the permanent 

 markings derived from a dip into the Greens, which will repeat themselves year after year. 



This intermixture with the Lizard is by no means general, nor is it now, probably, so common 

 as it was a few years ago ; indeed, there are many breeding-rooms in Norwich in which a Lizard 

 never was seen, though the strain of "fancy" hens, as they are called — that is, hens containing Lizard 

 blood — is much prized throughout the city. Nor is the free use of the Green so much in vogue in 

 some breeding-centres as in others, but this element cannot be dispensed with for any length of 

 time in a room in which breeding is carried on upon anything like a sound basis. The results of 

 different systems are apparent to an educated eye, and it is not so difficult as might be imagined 

 to pick out at a large show the representatives of various schools, in which subtle distinctions in 

 form, size, texture of feather, and tone of colour, presence or absence of meal, and other points, 

 indicate the distinguishing features of known strains. 



