CHOICE OF BREEDING-BIRDS, AND THEIR TREATMENT. 81 



Booker, too, says young males and old females will, as a 

 rule, raise more males than other pairs, as, for one thing, 

 older females breed and feed better than young ones. 



The first hatch produces more pointed and oblong eggs, 

 according to popular belief more cocks ; the second, more 

 rounded eggs, more females. The two following broods are 

 usually much less copious than the preceding ones. Other 

 breeders, on the contrary, allege that birds of different ages 

 produce only a weakly progeniture, but this has not been 

 proved. It is generally believed that males and females, 

 between two and four years old, will "nest " best, and that, 

 after having attained an age of four to six years, they are 

 scarcely fit for breeding. In the Hartz, males are not em- 

 ployed for breeding longer than three years at the most, and 

 such a bird then is called a "mere tramp " (orig. " Schier- 

 tramper "), no longer capable of breeding, and also receding 

 in song. Every single bird intended for the hatch must, 

 moreover, be quite free from any blemish, both as regards 

 his health, and the shape of his body ; a careful inspection 

 before pairing will therefore be necessary ; the breast, 

 abdomen, " anus," plumage, and the feet must be closely 

 inspected. Any bird that is sickly, too lean or too fat, 

 whose abdomen is soiled, or which, in any other way, is unfit 

 or suspicious, should be kept out of the hatch, because every 

 disease becomes hereditary in the most injurious manner, 

 and, in the case of delicate Hartz-birds, one should beware of 

 using, for the purpose of breeding, any bird that is hoarse, 

 short of breath, or otherwise sickly, even in a minor degree ; 

 otherwise the whole progeniture may easily perish through 

 consumption. If the tail be torn out, or the plumage other- 

 wise defective, this will be no bar to efficient breeding, still 

 it will be better to pluck out all defective feathers about six 

 weeks before breeding-time, so that they may be set in with 

 their full plumage ; the feet must also be cleaned, and if the 



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