244 Caxaries a.vd Cage-Birds. 



good anything else, would not be so valuable as they are ; and the beginner will probably find that 

 whatever may be the opinion outside as to " anything " passing muster for a Yorkshire, those who 

 understand the bird know when they have the true " anything," and that it has Its market value. 

 The extreme of neatness and delicate finish is to be found among the smaller birds of the older 

 regime, but increased size being demanded, it is no use to work entirely with this material if the 

 breeder wishes to rise above the barren honours of V.H.C. cards and get into the foremost rank. 

 Such birds are, nevertheless, very useful, inasmuch as their character is firmly fixed and they will 

 stamp it with more or less accuracy on such material as may be selected with a view to framing a 

 larger model, about which more will be said shortly. Assuming that good material in which no 

 evident departure from standard points is visible is to be had, we should prefer that the cock 

 should show commanding proportions rather than the hen. We do not think that there is any 

 established physiological law knowing no variation which governs this system of pairing, but it is 

 generally found that the male exerts a marked influence in determining the size of the offspring, 

 and we do not care to breed from small cocks in any case in which we desire to maintain or 

 improve size. We should not elect, with a free choice, to breed with small hens, but we would 

 prefer to use a medium-sized hen, perfect in its symmetry, in place of a larger, if we failed to 

 discover the presence of sterling merit. It is a matter in which there may frequently be not much 

 opportunity for choice, but we refer to it both as a question affecting the general principles of 

 breeding and as a caution against being led away in quest of size at the expense of essentials which 

 must be present, whether size accompany them or not. Beyond this there is nothing we can 

 suggest relative to working with pronounced material which will not probably occur spontaneously 

 to the mind of any thoughtful person who makes use of common-sense principles in his breeding- 

 room so far as not to expect to gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. 



In working with foreign material or such as shows traces of its admixture, care is required. 

 The most common cross, and, in many respects, the most useful when judiciously used, is with 

 inferior forms of the Manchester Plainhead, a bird which we have said bears strong points 

 of resemblance as well as of dissimilarity to the Yorkshire. The kindred features may be 

 briefly summed up under the two ideas of straight build and erect stand. These we want ; its 

 other features we do not want. The Plainhead, for example, has been cultivated to a gigantic size, 

 with every feature correspondingly enlarged, and notably the skull, which, in a good specimen, is 

 of extraordinary width. But many of these birds fail to come up to the required standard, and 

 many more are so far down the scale as to be of no value for the particular purpose for which they 

 were bred. They are, in fact, fair examples of the original bird from which most probably sprung 

 the present houses of York and Lancaster, and it is from this source that the breeder can borrow 

 with advantage. Here, the broad skull will probably be wanting ; the loose feathering incident to 

 huge size, replaced by a closer plumage ; and various other features, valuable to a Plainhead but 

 prejudicial to a Yorkshire, will be found toned down or entirely absent, leaving many Yorkshire 

 essentials at our disposal. From such birds, paired with refined examples of the Yorkshire, the 

 best results may be anticipated, but care must be taken not to select such as show any leaning 

 towards cultivated Plainhead proclivities, the broad skull being the feature of features to be 

 avoided, as it indicates the cultivated Plainhead more than does any other point, and when 

 present there is no knowing how potent may be other adverse influences lurking Underneath. 

 This is the only foreign element we should with confidence make use of, and we use the word 

 foreign in a very qualified sense, which, if analysed, would perhaps show that we have adopted 

 a term as inappropriate as if we spoke of the fountain being foreign to the stream. 



What to avoid is as necessary to be known as what to cat and drink ; and among a class of 



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