Breeding Belgian Canaries. 209 



four, he will have young ones with five good points ; but I wonder what are the odds against this 

 being done with birds bought indiscriminately at shows. I have been following my system only five 

 years, and consequently am not able to work with such certainty ; to do so, a man must use tools 

 of his own making : it can never be done hap-hazard. Your theory of obtaining a culminating 

 point vvith colour is equally applicable to position, which is a property that must be bred up 

 to. I do not mean by this that it is impossible to go higher with position-birds than has 

 been already attained, but I do mean that an extraordinary show specimen is frequently 

 one which carries, outside, the concentrated good qualities of its parents, while, lying hid, 

 perhaps not far from the surface, are some of the more objectionable features ; and this bird, 

 if mated with another exactly similar, will make full amends in the offspring for the abeyance 

 in which these forces have been lying without having lost their desire for expansion. If it 

 were not so, what charm would there be in breeding ? To me, none : it would be the simplest 

 child's play." 



The whole moral of this is, that endeavour should be made to procure breeding-stock as 

 reliable as possible, and then pedigree-breeding begins at once to apply. To furnish any 

 definite rules for guidance in selecting the first pairs is almost impossible, but it will be a 

 wise policy to start with a combination of quality with quantity. So far as is possible, 

 and in the absence of any knowledge of the special character of the birds, let no essential be 

 wanting on either side ; but if there should be a lack in any way in either bird, endeavour to obtain 

 that property in excess in the other. It may be well to remember that in following out an ideal 

 perfection of symmetry, a tendency towards a not very massive build has been developed in 

 some Belgians, and occasionally very exquisite form is found in unquestionably undersized 

 birds. We would not recommend pairing two such, but where opportunity occurs for free 

 selection, choose massive proportions in the cock and elegant conformation in the hen. It is 

 only fair to assume that the presence of good properties is an indication of their being to a 

 reasonable extent fixed in their character, and the beginner will have to risk something on 

 the truth of the assumption. The results will soon show in what direction declension is apparent, 

 and then is the time when the breeder must exercise his maturer judgment in rectifying defects 

 which may not have appeared on the surface at the start. 



The laws affecting the blending of colour and regulating the quality of the feather rule 

 throughout this as in every other variety, yellow and buff being mated according to the 

 established plan, and the contrary. In this respect, the same discretion must be exercised as 

 with plumage-birds, but the paramount claims of form must not be overlooked when departure 

 from the rule appears desirable. Nor must the comparatively little worth of an absolutely 

 clear type of feather be allowed to interfere with judicious mating. It is frequently almost 

 impossible to determine when a bird is clear and when not, so exceedingly faint and indistinct 

 is the grizzly form constituting a tick, often nothing more than the most trifling discoloration 

 of the shaft of some small body-feather. This disposition to assume a ticked form runs 

 through the entire tribe of Clears, and so uncertain is it in its appearance that positively not 

 the slightest attention must be paid to it as a feature in any way affecting the character of 

 breeding-stock. 



In accordance with the idea followed out in our classification, we would advise the keeping 

 separate of the Clear or Ticked and the Variegated forms, and would not recommend mating 

 the two unless the breeder should desire to pair with a view to producing Variegated birds. 

 Abundance of birds of the Clear school from which no Variegated offspring will be produced 

 can be had, and ample scope is afforded in that field alone for the skill of the most enthusiastic 

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